Atonement
by Fan Of Games
Summary: It was an accident, though Alela Grora hated Ater for taking her eye. She beat her a lot, leaving Ater on the verge of death in several cases. Yet a grave offense from her past returns to haunt her as Grora begins to understand what hurts Ater most. But how will Ater and Arbus react when they discover what that offense was and how it affects them?
1. Chapter One: The Usual Pursuit

" _Every true, eternal problem is an equally true, eternal fault; every answer an atonement, every realization an improvement," – Otto Weininger_

 **Warning: Spoilers for Seven Nights at Clarabella's and Inner Craving.**

…

Peace, a core value of their world; friendship between angels and demons advocated as the conflict between the two sides ended on a harmonious note. With the bitter war between them both no longer a problem holding them back, they could move on and accept each other and what made them all different. It was their differences that contributed to their equality because it meant all of them were individuals. Demons and angels came together and forgave each other for misgivings a dark past like their shared past contained, recognizing both sides were at fault for the fighting and making the conscience effort to strive for a world of peace. That was how the Gray Garden became known as a paradise, a place where angels and demons could befriend one another without conflict.

"Damn you, Ater!"

At least for ninety-nine point nine percent of the time. Those odds included everyone, both angels and demons alike maintaining a strong friendship between one another. Even intermarriage was allowed between the two, a union which gave birth to the Nephilim, children of demonic and angelic parents who possessed physical and biological aspects from sides of their parental kinship. Twins were sort of an exception to this in a way since one would be an angel and another a demon, though a triplet would still maintain the angelic-demonic elements in his or her makeup. That was one reason why bonds of families and friends remained strong, and everybody stood strong for the cultural way of life they established together. Although the bloody past in which they were nothing more than enemies was still a part of their history and themselves as well, they accepted it because the disunity was a way of reminding them about horrors of warfare which could engulf them again.

"N-no, p-please leave us alone! W-what d-did I-I do this time?!"

"T-this time what did s-she do?! L-leave us alone, p-please, no!"

And yet one particular horror which had become accepted by this point as well was already taking place throughout the corridors of Blancblack Castle. It was also the point one percent which didn't fit in with the rest and opposed it even as the angel involved in it somehow squeezed herself into the other ninety-nine point nine percent while excluding a certain individual from everything, setting her sights on her and always prepared to murder that individual by any means necessary. It was kind of understandable as the Gray Garden's biggest flaw because of this one angel, though a certain degree of punishment was always in order whenever she tried to slaughter her target in cold blood. But even that wouldn't stop her even now as she sped through the halls after her along with another who just happened to be the victim's twin sister. Their footfalls echoed everywhere, within the halls, stairwells, every floor, and pretty much anywhere else imaginable. Everybody got out of their way, many of them choosing to defend the victims from her—some whom deadpanned when they realized what was going on, while others merely reported it to Kcalb while trying to stop her. Yet their reaction lacked surprise since they knew it was just another part of the daily routine, one in which Grora always chased after Ater—and Arbus too—to slaughter her over an accident.

"Just you wait, Ater! I'm going to pulverize you this time, you hear me?!" she shouted, her boots storming across the floors as she pursued the two cat demons ahead of her in rage.

"S-stop it, p-please!" Ater cried out, sprinting as fast as she could while she and Arbus sped past other employees. The two of them were careful not to jostle any of them unlike their pursuer, the one-eyed angel with an eyepatch over her left eye—a reminder of when she lost that eye mainly because of a freak accident involving Ater. They fled every which way, trying to lose her.

"Please, s-stop it!" her twin sister, Arbus, repeated in their cute mannerism of speaking that had been one of their most adorable features aside from other facets like their playfulness and cute sweetness. Unfortunately, despite their pleading with her, the angel would not leave them alone as she continued to chase her poor targets all over the place, never letting them out of her sight.

"No way in hell! Like hell I'd ever forgive you for what you've done to me, Ater! You are dead meat, Ater, count on it!" Alela Grora, the furious angel threatened her actual target, thinking about whether she really should've been chasing Arbus too. It wasn't like the black haired demon of the two kitties was any threat to her. Although, Arbus was Ater's twin and she would stay with her sister forever and do whatever it took to be united with her forever, so that pretty much meant Grora could split the pain between them both as punishment for what happened to her eye. "You've turned me into a one-eyed freak, Ater, and now I'll return the favor big time, you little shit!"

"B-but I-I wasn't involved with that! I-I didn't do it, I-I s-swear!" Arbus protested, unaware of why she had to be harmed by Grora as well for something her twin sister did in the past.

"Fine, then just get the hell out of my way so I can pound Ater into dust!"

"D-don't leave me, Arbus!" Ater wailed in fright, terrified of being abandoned by her own twin sister to be forgotten by her while being remembered as the innocent cat demon slain by what was known as a misguided usage of karma. According to karma, what she did would've amounted to punishment in this life or another; however, she apologized profusely for what happened many times over, showing she truly did repent for the offence she committed unto Grora by accident—that was what it always was, and she claimed full responsibility for it. That didn't mean Grora had to accept it and forgive her; she didn't have to like Ater, though she certainly couldn't maim and murder the poor girl over an accident, regardless of how dire it had been back then. "I-I don't want t-to d-die! P-please don't abandon me! I-I'll do anything, p-please stay with me!"

"I-I'll never leave you, Ater! W-we're always together!" Arbus cried, tears emerging from within their eyes to pour down their faces while they wept timidly. "Sisters together forever! Cross our hearts and hope to die!" They really would stay by each other's side, even in death—the death Grora would give them once she caught up to these girls and flayed them to death. That did appeal to the angel as she thought of ways to make them—particularly Ater—bleed as part of the critically harsh sentence she would deliver unto them as judgment for the one cat demon's sin against her a long time ago. Then again, there were other methods viable for the task, but it didn't matter to her.

Dashing through one of the hallways, Grora seized a potted plant from a nearby table while flying in the air, zooming fast to catch up. Once she managed to close in quite a short distance, she threw the flowerpot as hard as she could. While she did want to aim at Ater, the angel overshot the attack on purpose because she knew simply aiming directly for her head where it was would miss because the cat demons were running. Therefore, she lobbed it over them for good measure.

Her pitch was successful, having smashed onto the floor in front of Ater as the cat demons were turning into another stairwell. Caught off guard, Ater and Arbus stumbled over it and tripped over their own feet, crying out as they fell forward. Their legs tangled together while they tumbled down a flight of stairs, crashing into the wall at the bottom and mewling in pain after hitting it with enough force to knock a painting hanging from it onto them. Sniffing as they wept aloud, the poor kitties tried to stagger to their feet as Grora descended the stairs. Her footsteps echoed heavily and stomped down each individual one step which made her prey recoil in fear and hug each other out of loving compassion for one another. The twins had sprained an ankle each in the fall, realizing a much more painful end would finish them off right here as their whole lives flashed before them.

"Finally caught up to you little shits…" Grora panted heavily, cracking her knuckles since she wanted to give Ater—and Arbus just for the sake of it because the other cat demon was present, and Grora did want to relieve more of her stress by taking it out on both of them—a severe beating. "Next time just accept your fate instead of always running from it. Do you two have any idea just how difficult it is catching up to you? You're lucky I'm not carrying my bow at the moment; still, that doesn't mean you'll be escaping anytime soon." One of the angel's knuckle cracks sounded a bit scary, as if it was the equivalent of bones shattering in her grasp as if she was strong enough to actually accomplish that. Her main strengths were her skill with the bow, duel wielding scimitars, and tactical strikes; though she wasn't on that level regarding physical strength, Grora was also an adept at martial arts and helped teach classes on such abilities like karate and taekwondo.

"D-don't hurt us…" the cat demons begged helplessly, shivering uncontrollably while they cried, tears flowing down their cheeks. "P-please, w-we're s-sorry…"

"Sorry's not good enough, you little shits!" the angel retorted bitterly and seized them both by the collar, wanting to throttle these two for being unreliable, lying demons who always made a few good lives miserable by refusing to listen to anyone except for a few others like Etihw. While Kcalb was their owner—or fatherly figure to them, according to what she heard—they barely even listened to him whenever he requested something from them or asked them to do something. Ater and Arbus were pretty much useless since they hardly got anything done around here—like Etihw since the Goddess was also pretty lazy; at least she tried to be whenever she escaped the camera—so there was no real reason to even keep them around any longer. "You don't even do anything at all! What the hell were you girls doing when Ivlis invaded our world, huh?! When Germain wanted to destroy all we worked so hard to preserve?! When Soa murdered good people who gave their lives protecting the peace our respective people deserve after such a meaningless war?!"

Ater and Arbus sniffed, wondering why she was bullying them around. They figured Grora for being more of a dog person, but answered her coldhearted inquiry. "W-we helped…" Ater whimpered nervously. "W-we arrived to stop him after getting lost in his underworld." It was the answer to the first question concerning Ivlis, which Arbus finished answering.

"Y-yes, we showed up when Lord K-Kcalb needed us. T-then you came with Mr. Wodahs before Lady Etihw arrived. P-please d-don't be angry with us, Miss Grora," she said and pleaded.

"Uh-huh, and what about Germain and Soa?! Did you not help stop them?!" Grora started shaking them both, demanding what they did about those other two and why they weren't involved in the defense against them. As far as she knew, they weren't even around when it happened.

"W-we did help…" Arbus went on, swallowing heavily. "We helped Lady Etihw write that apology she made to our world for what happened in the past with that conspiracy."

"And we helped Mr. Siegfried protect Gray Village from the ghoulish doppelganger," Ater also continued their brief, truthful explanation even though Grora didn't believe them. "Y-you've been ordered into different squads protecting this place, manning them in one spot while we were at another." She also swallowed while sniffing. "P-please don't hurt us, Miss Grora, w-we promise t-to be good." If she thought pleading with this furious angel would get them out of trouble, she'd literally get on her hands and knees to beg for her life. Arbus would follow her example.

"I don't think so! You two have always been nothing but trouble for everyone! You always let everybody else down because you act like children instead of mature young ladies! You're both decades old and haven't even passed adolescence yet! Grow up and welcome the real world, so let me show you how painful and cruel it is!" Knocking their heads together to make them slightly dizzy from the blow, Grora dropped Arbus to the floor to start with Ater. She made a fist with her right hand while holding the cat demon's collar in her left and drew the arm back to thrust the fist right into her prey's face. In her mind, she hoped the punch went through Ater's skull and out the backside of her head. Once she was down, Arbus was up next for a severe beating following her.

However, the moment she reached behind her before shoving her fist forward into the cat's jaw, someone seized her limb quickly to immediately whirl her around towards a wall and pin her to it. Grunting in pain, having forcibly released her target to the floor so the twins could huddle in each other's arms, the angel glanced behind her to find Siegfried and Valens standing there with a few other employees who had come with them when they heard the usual commotion from a floor nearby. "That'll be enough of that for now, Grora," the investigator instructed her to cease her mad assault, holding her arms tightly so she wouldn't struggle. "Let them go, they didn't do anything."

"Damn right they didn't do anything!" Grora unexpectedly agreed with that statement, but the others were already aware of the cat demons' laziness which was why they were not surprised. "Those two don't do jackshit around this joint! Why the hell are you guys defending them?!"

"Mainly because you're always going off on them for whatever you can think off," Valens replied, kneeling down beside the kitties to apply a healing spell to mend their bruises and sprained ankles. "Usually it's your missing eye," he added, pointing to his left eye to emphasize the concept. "It's been decades since that accident; this should be water under the bridge by now considering a significant amount of time has passed since then. They were too young to understand consequences of their actions. Learn to forgive Ater and Arbus at some point, Grora. You're only getting—"

"Myself in trouble," she finished for him. "I already know that, thank you very much." Her tone suggested she was quite displeased with them interrupting her assault on the kitties. Siegfried released her momentarily and she stepped over to the stairs, sitting down to rub her arms since the slight force he applied hurt somewhat. "I would've already taught them a lesson had you guys not interrupted me. These girls are such a nuisance, getting away with anything they can think of." Its validity as a true statement was undeniable sometimes, but Ater and Arbus still meant well.

"Oh, cut it out," the other angel commented, sticking a strand of wheat in between his teeth. It was a habit of his, and he clearly liked the taste of pure wheat. "They're not that bad, Grora."

"Yes, they are," Grora retorted bitterly, pointing at Ater and Arbus. "They're useless sacks of nothing that don't do anything and make others miserable—mostly me, for instance."

"I should think solely you," one of the other angels with them spoke up, garnering a harsh glare from the angry angel which failed to shut him up. "You clearly make trouble for them while expecting others to come to your aid. Don't you see how hard it is supporting your claims when a bunch of witnesses already familiar with your dislike for Ater see you wielding anything that could be used as a weapon against her and Arbus over nothing?" His question, though valid enough, was hitting a sour note in her and she started lashing out at him and the others as well for it.

"You think the shit they pull is nothing?! Just look at them and consider what they do! The two of them are so terrible they let others do all the work while they just play around doing nothing! How can you guys not understand how much I truly despise them?! Ater took my eye! She should be punished for it because she obviously wasn't back then!" she yelled, growling at the two kitties.

"Because they were too young to fully grasp the consequences of their actions!" one of the other employees, a demon, supported the claim Valens made. "How hard is it to understand that?"

"Yeah," the third employee, an angel, commented. "You're the one who usually says even children can comprehend that much at young ages—around the same age as they were back then—so do you see how ironic that is, Grora? You're practically saying they're both stupid and need to be charged for simply not knowing the difference between right and wrong among other things."

"Because there are plenty of things they're guilty of—Ater, specifically, chiefly for taking my eye!" Grora retorted coldly and glared the cat demons. "Yeah, that's right, you bitches haven't done one good thing around here to my knowledge, and that's all that matters to me, got it?!" The petty insult merely made a few of the others sigh in exasperation, but Ater and Arbus both looked down at the floor in shame because they believed the furious angel was correct in her assumption. Thankfully, Siegfried set them both at ease by gently ruffling their hair and smiling warmly at the two of them, having turned to kneel in front of them so he could address the cat demons.

"Look don't fret over her low opinions of you, girls," he spoke kindly and helped them up. "They mean nothing and aren't based on anything. If this mean lady ever bothers you again, don't be afraid to call for help. Just go to anyone and they'll be sure to let Kcalb know what's happening." Saying so, he raised his hands up to their faces and wiped away their tears. "Now don't cry, you're two of the best combatants in our forces; together, you can stand up to her and defend yourselves."

"We don't want to, that would be mean," Ater murmured softly, frowning sadly.

"Mean that would be," Arbus spoke up in their adorable mannerism.

It was such a cute sight that it relieved some tension, but not Grora's rage as she glared.

Siegfried turned back to Grora and smiled at her too, though she felt the gesture was in fact a demeaning smile. "See, they're sweet girls, Grora. They're not as bad as you make them out." In the angelic woman's mind, that came across as condescending when the words passed through her ears. She would've spoken up to refute that statement, but the investigator addressed Valens next. "Hey, Valens, why don't you take these girls down to the medical center to give them a couple of lollipops to snack on for a bit? The treats should help soothe their nerves after what Grora's done."

"Certainly, Siegfried, a great idea!" Valens concurred with a smile of his own and chuckled while leading the girls down another flight of stairs. "Come on, girls, let the good doctor help make everything better for you. I'll even acquire a knight in shining armor as your escort back to Kcalb."

The cat demons cheered happily, their spirits raised while they left with him. "Yay! Thank you very much, Dr. Valens!" they squealed in delight as the other employees with them also went their separate ways too. Grora would've gone after them again, but a glare from Siegfried kept her back. All she could do was pout bitterly as he watched her victims regain their composure and the cheerful happiness they were known for. They headed through a door into the medical department and he turned back to her, crossing his arms and looking very displeased with his coworker.

"Well, are you happy now, Grora?" he asked her, irked by her utter lack of compassion she displayed to Ater and Arbus. "Must you always scare them? What have they ever done to deserve such treatment from you?" Although she was going to answer him by saying Ater gouged her eye out regardless of the fact it was an accident, he interjected as he already anticipated that remark. "And don't tell me it's because Ater gouged the eye you used to have on purpose. Everyone already knows that and are aware they didn't mean it. I don't deny they hardly get anything done around here, but they try their best to make everybody happy, Grora. Must you be the only one to dampen their spirits just because of an accident decades old? Bear in mind that Ater and Arbus are repentant for that and apologized as they mean well and understand the consequences of their actions better than you. You don't have to beat them up; surely they deserve that much even if you dislike them."

"Like hell they do," Grora spat out bitterly and sighed, resting her chin in a palm of one of her hands with the elbow on her knee. "When have they ever taken responsibility for their actions?"

"Whenever they realize they've done something wrong and seek to make up for it," replied the other angel. "Those two are good girls, but you make them out as criminals—both of them, in fact, merely for something only one of them did. Let me ask you this question, Grora: do you ever take responsibility for your actions?" She responded to him by silently nodding before he posed a variant of that same question by applying specific individuals to it. "Do you ever take responsibility for your actions whenever you harm Ater and Arbus over anything you can think of?"

"Why should I?" she retorted and stood up, glaring at Siegfried with her arms crossed while leaning up against the wall. "Those rotten girls deserve every bit of pain I have to inflict on them."

"I'd ask why that is, but I have a strong feeling you'd loop back into the same old excuse."

"Because it's the truth! Why is it that nobody around this joint believes me when I say they are nothing but trouble, huh? We all bust our asses working every day, and what do they do? They just play around doing nothing but cause trouble for others with their stupid grins and petty cheer, more so in Ater's case because she's a conniving, little shit who'll take others' eyes too. Trust me, Siegfried, an eye for an eye is the only way that little bitch can ever be taught a proper lesson."

"No, it makes the whole world go blind, even if you happen to go for the realistic concept; that the blind one won't be able to see the other guy, hence why he can't take the other's eye. Your logic is flawed on either level that it's essentially pointless, just like your hatred of Ater and Arbus. Seriously, Grora, when are you ever going to give up on despising them? I'm not saying you could associate with them, but at least consider how they feel when a bully like you runs up to smash the poor girls into the ground. In their eyes, you're like a monster that just won't release its prey."

"What about my eye, huh?!"

"Which one: the one gouged out, or the one you have left?"

"Which one do you think I'm referring to?!"

Siegfried sighed, shutting his eyes. Talking some sense into this lady was aggravating when she refused to listen to reason and logic. "Usually the one you lost considering how you always go on about it as if the loss of one eye makes you into some kind of cyclops at the end of the world."

Grora sighed too, wondering how he couldn't get such an obvious reference to the eye she still had. "I meant the remaining one, genius," she said, tired with his constant rationalization of a point she blatantly refused to accept—and with good reason since she was aware of it. "You always talk about considering how others feel; everyone does, yet nobody thinks about how I feel because of Ater. That damned wretch is the reason why I lost my left eye, but nobody does anything about it. That's why I'm always so upset with her—a point I know we've already established already the same way we've established it hundreds of times by now. I wouldn't even be angry with her if she hadn't gouged it out, and I don't care whether it was an accident or not; she still deserves it!"

"Believe me, we do consider your feelings and thoughts about the incident in question and how it made an impact on you," the investigator consented, concurring with her argument. "But in any case, you've proven just now and many times over you're not willing to forgive Ater. You've even gone so far as to completely disregard others telling you otherwise while acknowledging that you show no concern, patience, and tolerance for her and would gladly kill her over an accident. I am not the only one who's told you this countless time by now, Grora; others said the same. You've even included Arbus as a victim of your aggressive rage against her fraternal twin, yet you do not hate her as much as Ater and don't have any motivation for wanting to hurt her too."

"To be fair, Arbus is always together with Ater," Grora pointed out, crossing her arms. "It stands to reason that the two of them should be united in hell as in life. How is that not simple?"

"Nobody said it wasn't," Siegfried agreed with that final part of her statement, "but it does not mean the reason is justified in any way." Grora opened her mouth to argue with him further, a spark of hatred refusing to quell itself for the time being until he cut her off. He didn't want to hear her debate this any longer since it was obvious she still wouldn't listen to reason. That was why it was time for him to lay down some strict discipline to make her silent. "Absolutely not, Grora, I'll not stand by and let you berate those girls and harm them anymore when I'm around, and I'll speak to Kcalb about this too. Everyone else has tried to stop you so far, even Etihw and Kcalb. The way I see it, you're going to be in big trouble with them for trying to kill Ater and Arbus again."

"But—"

"No buts, lady, now go to the closet upstairs and collect some cleaning supplies," Siegfried ordered her, pointing up at the floor above them by directing his finger to the door there. "You are to clean up the mess you made by throwing that flowerpot, and the other damage you have caused through the entire castle. Kcalb and Etihw might want a word with you before you finish, but I can speak to them about waiting for you to finish. Even if much of it has already been fixed already, I want you to still go around and apologize for your actions prior to seeing them for an evaluation."

"An evaluation on what?" Grora asked irritably. "My behavior, as usual?"

Siegfried nodded affirmatively. "Exactly, now move."

The angelic woman sighed. "Yes, sir," she commented exasperatedly in a sarcastic tone of voice while turning to head upstairs and follow his instructions straight to the letter. Leaving him, she was careful enough not to trip or slip on the broken flowerpot and soil that spilled out of it and headed through the threshold. A nearby storage closet for cleaning supplies was located just a short distance away, and she made a pissed off beeline for the room to gather a broom, a mop with some water in a bucket which she filled in the bathroom nearby, and a tray to sweep the pieces on top of with two wet-floor signs to indicate where the floor was slippery. Grora sighed, running a hand in her hair distractedly upon arriving back at the spot where he waited for her to let others who came by know she was going to be cleaning the area. "It always has to be my behavior, does it?"

"Who else's would it be?" Siegfried inquired rhetorically. "You're usually called in due to something you've said or done against Ater and Arbus." He wanted to say it should've been quite obvious, but the investigator chose not to. The comment could only infuriate her more. "Seeing as how you've already begun, I might as well get right to Kcalb and report your misconduct. See you around, Grora, and behave yourself next time." With a quick wave at her, he headed off towards a nearby elevator to head up. She watched him go and childishly stuck her tongue out at him.

"Yeah, good luck staying out of others' business, jerk," Grora muttered under her breath.

…

"…and that's how I got another scolding from Lady Etihw and Sir Devil earlier," she said, finishing up her account of why she was late to the garden as her coworkers there listened intently to the story. Grora sighed, watering some of the mayapples and birdsfoot violets with the remaining bit of water that was in the can before grabbing the hose to refill it. "It sucks, but I'll manage."

"Not to be rude by saying something to upset you, but you did deserve it, Grora," Mitchell spoke up while waiting for the hose so he could fill up his watering can after having seeded soil in the fruit garden with watermelon seeds. Attired in a casual plaid t-shirt and green jeans with a pair of leather boots for working in the garden, he definitely fit an image of a professional gardener for Blancblack Castle—not that his clothes had anything to do with it since the outfit didn't matter so long as they maintained the garden by taking care of it. Two horns jutted out of his white hair, his monkey tail swaying in the breeze. Being a monkey demon was a good advantage because he could climb trees well and pick the fruit off them whenever something ripe was available to harvest.

"Yeah, I mean you did chase Ater and Arbus throughout much of the castle," Rorin agreed while planting some arrowheads and common evening primroses by wild bergamot flowers along with a collection of bluebells and red columbines. The angel gently flapped his wings to brush off some soil from the leaves on a nearby rosebush, his red work vest contrasting his blue jeans.

"How much damage did you cause, anyway?" Othros inquired, wondering how much came out of the paycheck Grora received. Clad in light brown khaki shorts and a dark brown shirt along with boots of a matching color, the demon dug holes for cardinal flowers where he was sitting. "It sounded like the whole place was going nuts over the commotion. I heard you were like a tornado going wild in there, chasing after those girls towards no particular destination. A buddy of mine in the chemistry lab claimed he saw you personally get chewed out by Siegfried when he showed up to help. He even told me you were being very difficult with them." Saying so, the bat demon began seeding the soil as Grora walked over to give him some more packets of what he needed. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," she remarked with a small smile that turned into a frown as she sighed. Pondering how much else they needed, Grora stretched her arms in the air and looked around at a bit of the work they managed to accomplish. So far they had already started two patches and began the third when she arrived, but they got five more finished together. "Man, I'd do anything to slay that bitch cat demon for giving me a wound that will never heal," the angelic woman commented, taking a deep breath of fresh air while wiping beads of sweat from her brow. "Granted, I shall not accept a new one or let it heal until I am victorious over her bloody corpse, but that's not the point."

"Sounds like it already is, Grora, the way you keep harping about it so often," Rorin stated as Mitchell came over to water the plants he put into the ground. "You're the only one here who's bitching about it all the time instead of actually doing something to control your anger. Find some anger management class or something." His suggestion was noted, but countered by Mitchell.

"Technically we don't have such courses in this world, considering how everything is quite peaceful and we all get along—well, except for Grora and Ater, of course. Oh, and that old angel, what was his name again? The guy who was charged for owning those dangerous animatronics?"

"Averniche, the previous curator of Clarabella's Museum of Arts and Crafts," Othros gave him the answer. "He too would benefit from those classes. Then again, he was grouchy for an old man and all. I heard the night guard who helped solve the case was one of the four heroines of our world from the invasion last year. It was one of the two angels from that group, but not Froze."

"Macarona, one of her friends," Grora clarified for him, getting a bag of fertilizer from the wheelbarrow and opening it to spread some of the stuff around on the grass. "I heard she's writing a book about that. Hell, even I was involved in that to some extent, what with being assigned to be a guard captain of the southern portion of Gray Village when that one animatronic tried to assault us. I also provided her information on one of the angels those things were based on." She sighed happily, reminiscing on her reunion with the spirit of an old friend from her past.

She would never forget Robin and the sacrifices she made for others.

"I'll be sure to think about giving it a read sometime," Mitchell stated and watched as their drinks for the hard work they did arrived when somebody from a local lemonade stand established by a couple high school students from the school brought over some of the fresh lemonade they've been selling. "Ah, that would be another pitcher of refreshing drinks for us. I should think we have earned ourselves another short break from work, right friends?" he asked as they agreed.

"Yep," Grora murmured, wiping more sweat from her temple with the sleeve of her dress. "I could totally go for another glass of lemonade. I should at least pay them for offering it to us."

"It's cool, I got it," Othros remarked while removing his wallet and pulling out quite a big roll of gold coins he had saved up as part of his personal stash. "I figured you might've gotten your pay docked due to your hunt after the kitties, hence why I always keep spare change on me for the people who bring out the drinks for us." Although she opened her mouth to say she was still alright even though her pay really had been reduced, he held up a hand to silence her and smiled because he was definitely good-natured about it. "Say no more, I don't even need a reimbursement for this. I already have plenty of money in my bank account, thank you very much, Grora."

"I bet that thing's still climbing higher already," Mitchell joked and put his arm around the demon after Othros had paid for the lemonade, sitting down beside him in the gazebo they claimed seats in to have a pleasant chat over the break. "You're always so conservative with funds, dude."

"What do you even spend that money on, anyway?" Rorin asked out of curiosity as he went to pour lemonade for everyone. "You don't appear to spend much of it on yourself because it goes towards other things from what I've heard along the grapevine in the library and cafeteria."

"Indeed," Othros jutted an index finger in the air and smiled to provide an answer to Rorin's inquiry. "In addition to being a gardener and a technician, I am also a supplier of donations to help charities and fundraisers out whenever they require financial aid. However, I also keep just enough for myself and a side business of mine as an informant and private eye of sorts, if you will. Contacts of mine are in other worlds, and although I greatly dislike the idea of having to pay bribes for some information that could help our world in some way, I realize it is crucial whenever I must provide some number of funds in order to acquire said information. You could say it's a waste of money, and while you are right, I think it's a sacrifice worth making to help preserve peace. It's something I learned in the old days when we used to fight, and a lot of my associates in other worlds are still around today. They don't approve of the peace our world has established, and several of them have dropped off the radar. I'm glad we don't fight anymore, but they aren't; even so, I've got a number of contacts I can speak with in case anything dangerous like the invasion last year comes up. Come to think of it, you're also veterans of war, right, Rorin, Grora?" he asked them both as they nodded to confirm the inquiry as true before each of them delved into the annals of their war memories.

"Yep, you guys know I served as a scout and was promoted to the rank of Captain," Grora murmured, taking a sip of her ice tea. "I may not have been the best due to a bit of clumsiness and hotheaded behavior on my part," saying this, she raised a hand up and held it flat for a second. She then waved it diagonally a few times to emphasize her point. "Though I somehow managed to get this far despite having never been promoted again, but what do I care? Status means nothing to me because I could care less about it. What good is it if there's no equal footing between soldiers and civilians? We all know the latter can certainly become the former and then go right back to living their normal lives once honorably discharged from military service. I never retired, though."

"You really should give it some thought, Grora," Rorin remarked to continue the discussion about their military service. "I may be an old veteran from my division of gallant warriors, but the blood we split certainly wasn't which is why I chose to get out of there." He stared into the drink, recollecting his memories of having slaughtered his foes on the battlefield. "I get it was for a cause, however, but what was it? Why did we even bother fighting in the first place? Was it due to some instinctive nature, the rule of law citing the hatred angels and demons have against each other? It's all just an unclear path, one I couldn't walk. I was a warrior, yes, but not an honorable one."

"We all have our inner demons from the past to torment us in our darkest darkness," came the profound remark from Mitchell, the only one among them not involved with the military. "I've made my career as a former mercenary traveling the worlds for work by offering my services, but for what exactly? The sellswords guild I used to be a part of did have its honor for a bunch of fierce demons who reveled in warfare, but it just wasn't for me because I couldn't stand the rough nature of things. They were good guys and all, accepting anyone—even aquatic guys from two places our world trades with—and though I was friends with some of them, I couldn't take the bloodshed. Its customs about fighting—i.e. simply going nuts and killing whatever moved or looked at you funny in some way—didn't sit well with me, whereas they stood by one another like brothers."

"Very true, Mitchell," Grora agreed, raising her glass up for a toast. "We all may have been through darkness in our lives, but at least we have our brotherhoods and sisterhoods of friends and families by our sides. Even in the most troublesome times after having gone down separate paths, we find ourselves meeting new people who share our ideals and decide to settle down because the time has come for peace and harmony to replace warfare and conflict by putting an end to both. It is a better alternative even though we can't forget the dark deeds we committed, but that is why it serves as an anchor for us—to show us how foul bloodshed and hatred can be, a reason why all of us must never travel down that dark path ever again regardless of how much it's a part of us." Her friends all raised their own glasses for the toast, their shared feelings emphasized in the gesture.

"Amen," they all said in unison.

Grora smiled. "Amen," she repeated before launching into a funny quip. "Besides, why do I even need to see a shrink when I've got great friends like you guys?" The four of them all laughed.

…

 **And so begins another lengthy Gray Garden story, this time one about Grora coming to terms with her own past and how Ater and Arbus intertwine with it like I said in author's notes of** _In Need of Sleep_ **. This story will also feature Hastur as an antagonist as I also said.**

 **The quote above was found on BrainyQuote and Grora's friends were inspired by the guys Bryan Mills (played by Liam Neeson) is friends with in the Taken trilogy while the part about the blind eye concept was inspired by a scene from Seven Psychopaths. I also read the New Jersey Trees and Wildflowers pocket naturalist guide by both Kavanagh and Leung of the Waterford Press when including several varieties of wildflowers in this story.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Gray Garden; it's owned by Mogeko. I don't own Taken; it is owned by Pierre Morel who directed the first movie and Olivier Megaton who directed the other two movies. I do not own Seven Psychopaths; it is owned by Martin McDonagh. I do not own the guide I mentioned; it's owned by Kavanagh, Leung, and the Waterford Press.**

 **Edit: Earlier in the chapter I mentioned Grora used two katanas. Later on I had used two scimitars for her instead, so I decided to edit the scimitars in this chapter for consistency.**


	2. Chapter Two: Parental Absence

"Hey, Arbus?"

"Yeah, Ater?"

They were seated against two of the bannisters by some steps out by the garden near a cliff, one of the popular attractions for people in the village and tourists who visited this place. The pair were eagerly licking the lollipops Valens gave them both after their harrowing escape from Grora. Their dark gray skirts brushed up against the poles, their black and white tails swishing happily as they enjoyed the treats and this fabulously sunny day. Although their school uniforms would have led to some confusion as to why they weren't in school—possibly skipping by taking a day off—the truth was that they were actually Kcalb's pet cats who worked in the castle. Yet there was still a ring of truth to that part about skipping because they hardly ever did anything aside from helping in the castle's daycare center for little children. Their cheerful attitude and playfulness were clearly great aspects that made them popular with the children, but none of them were in today because it was a holiday on which their parents could bring them in to work for the day. That was why Arbus and Ater had nothing to do for the day, so they were glad for the time off to take a breather from a job they loved—not that it was needed since they considered every day on the job a fun, extended break. Even so, it was better the children weren't in to see Grora's rage; that angel was nice, though quite terrifying as well whenever she charged into the daycare center to kill the cats—mainly Ater.

"What do you think would've happened had Miss Grora caught us?" Ater inquired because she had been thinking of all the bad things Grora would've done to them. Everything she pondered regarding that sounded painful, and it made her shiver nervously while clutching at her arms.

"The usual, of course," Arbus answered with a smile and closed her eyes, savoring a sweet flavor of the lollipop—mint, their shared favorite. "Beat us to a pulp barehanded, pelt us both with arrows, etcetera." She raised an arm up and put it around her twin to offer some comfort. "No need to fear her anymore, at least for today. Miss Grora got scolded since she did the crime."

"So she does the time!" Ater laughed, thankful for the show of support from her sister.

"She reaps what she sows!" they both giggled in unison while the white haired cat demon's arm rose so she could embrace Arbus, who grinned at the thought of the angel being punished. Yet it soon turned into an inquisitive frown because Ater posed another question to her twin sister.

"Do you think she hates cats?"

Arbus shrugged. "Probably, but we've seen her play with cats before. I think she just hates us." It was a fairly obvious response for they were already well aware with the answer. "Though I think she loves dogs more than cats. That may explain her behavior around us for decades."

"Maybe," Ater agreed, nodding to concur with that opinion before offering her own theory to possibly explain it—one everyone was already familiar with by now. "Is it because I accidently gouged out her eye?" That clearly was the root of all their problems with Grora because it was due to that incident which began the tyranny they experienced from her on a daily basis all the time.

"That did start it, yeah," Arbus agreed. "Had that not happened, she wouldn't be angry with us—well, you, to be specific as it was accidently done by your hand, Ater; not that I blame you."

"But you're always getting hurt because of me…" her twin sister spoke softly, staring down at her lap in shame since she felt guilty for having unintentionally involved Arbus in the pain which was caused by the furious angel. "You should run away instead of staying put for me…"

Her sister's guilt concerned Arbus, and the black haired cat demon tightened her embrace, but kept it gentle too because she wanted to soothe Ater's frayed nerves. Ever since that accident, the poor girl was still something of a wreck despite her cheerful attitude. She had nightmares about the incident and its aftershocks on her, what she did having left behind a serious scar on her which had never healed because of Grora's constant attacks against her and Arbus. Whenever the angel's lone eye fell upon the cat demons—specifically Ater—she would chase and beat them. The many beatings caused psychological harm to her; although Arbus managed to maintain her sanity, she'd known Ater was slowly beginning to lose hers due to the attacks. Ater was gradually becoming an insecure, crippled mess on the inside, but still tried her best to stay happy amid the abuse. "Ater…"

"It's okay, Arbus, I won't be mad with you for abandoning me to her…" Ater spoke softly in a quiet voice, trying to reassure her sister that it was okay to leave her. "You're not supposed to get hurt over what I've done…Please, just go on without me, okay? I can take it by myself…"

"No, you can't, Ater," Arbus commented in a stern tone, but she adopted the attitude since she wanted to comfort her sister and stay by her side. "I know you better than anyone. You cannot handle her by your lonesome self. I need to be by your side at all times so you won't ever be alone. You do not have to face her on your own, that's why I choose to stay by your side." Having finished her lollipop, the cat demon took Ater's hands into her own and pressed her forehead against Ater's while closing her eyes. She smiled warmly, embracing Ater in her arms afterwards. "We're twins, Ater, twin sisters; always together, forever in health, sickness, and even death—however grim that is. I would never abandon you, nor will I ever let you be harmed by anyone, no matter what."

"But that would mean you could attack someone who hurts us, Arbus…"

"I would never hurt anyone Ater, you know that; I also know you would never hurt anyone either. It's hard simply just accepting the abuse, but we do try to run from her when she's angry at us." She would have named her sister as the specific individual, but corrected herself and decided not to. "Besides, Miss Grora gets in trouble all the time anyway, you know that. She hasn't stopped hurting us, I know, but I hope a day comes when she won't anymore. Maybe the punishments she receives will help in some way; perhaps Lady Etihw and Lord Kcalb will send her off somewhere else, another town if possible." Arbus let go of Ater and held her sister's hands again. "We'll hold out together for however long it takes, like we always have, okay? We can do it together."

"On our own?" Ater asked, still sounding unsure about their dire predicament.

"With Lord Kcalb and Lady Etihw on our side, as well as all our friends" Arbus reassured her. "We've got them supporting us, and they'd do anything to protect us; you know that."

Ater sniffed and swallowed heavily, afraid to pose her upcoming question. Still, she needed to ask it for the sake of ascertaining further reassurance from her twin sister. "And our parents?"

Arbus' eyes widened slightly, but she shut them moments later. "You know they're gone."

"I know, but…" Ater's voice was beginning to quiver, and she shuddered nervously. "Will they be coming soon? Where are they?" Both were valid questions, but Arbus couldn't answer due to a promise they made to Kcalb about that which was why she remained silent for a bit before she started speaking again. However, her response wasn't what Ater wanted to hear from her.

"You know we're not supposed to talk about that, Ater. We promised Lord Kcalb not to."

"But why, Arbus?"

Arbus stood up and helped her sister to her feet. "I don't know, but it's the only thing he's asked us to heed throughout our lives, even if we don't ever listen to him well. Now come on, we'd better get back to the castle now that Miss Grora's off our tails for now. Just drop it, okay?"

Although she didn't like it, Ater realized the topic only made things tense. She brought the notion up before plenty of times, but learned overtime that it was better to comply than worry over something that would upset them. Besides, she had asked Lord Kcalb about it and he said he would do his best to find their parents for them. Until he located them, he asked that they continue to live their lives happily instead of worrying over people who weren't in their lives, ever. The cat demons knew Kcalb only had their best interests at heart which was they listened and even complied with that request he made by not speaking about it. While she did suspect he might have known what happened, he reassured her that he was doing everything he could to find them so she and Arbus could finally meet their parents and welcome them into their lives. She believed him as she looked up to the Devil and loved him like a father, hence why she listened. Despite being uncomfortable with it, Ater gave in and kept her faith in him because she loved him. "Okay, Arbus, let's go."

She would still believe in Kcalb and be happy in life for others, hence the smile that slowly crept along her face until she was beaming again, glad to be thinking positive. Hopefully she could be able to have her wish come true soon after decades of waiting for their parents to appear. Until then, she'd continue to be happy and look forward to the day they would arrive in the Gray Garden.

The two cat demons cheerfully went on their way down the path towards the castle, neither of them aware that somebody was watching them from atop one of the trees nearby behind them.

…

"…and that's how the hero had saved the day by destroying the malevolent dragon that had been terrorizing the village," Kcalb remarked with a small smile, having finished reading the fairy tale he'd been relating to Ater and Arbus. The cat demons were curled up against him, their heads lying on his shoulders while he put the picture book down and reached his arms up to pet them on the heads before giving each of them a tender kiss on the forehead. "Okay, girls, bedtime."

"Okay, sir," they each spoke affectionately and purred happily, wrapping their arms around him to give the Devil a hug which he returned before getting off the bed. "Thank you, Lord Kcalb."

"You're welcome, girls," he stated and pet them again while they each grabbed their diaries out from the nightstands by their bed to write in them about how their day went. "Good night."

"Good night, sir," they returned the comment as he walked out before they began to write.

Taking one last look at the kitties once he reached the door and opened it, smiling while he shut it behind him, Kcalb took a few steps away when he noticed Othros coming up the stairs near him. Wondering if the demon had come with new information, the Devil approached him as the bat demon hailed him while stepping forward. "Othros, good evening, how are things going?" he asked to initiate the conversation between them while motioning his arm towards the office he and Etihw used. "Come right in and chat for a bit. You're doing well, I take it, and so are your friends?"

"Yes, we're certainly well, Kcalb," the bat demon responded with a nod and followed him in, taking a seat in front of the Devil's desk when Kcalb gave a friendly gesture indicating he could sit. "Got a lot of work done in the garden today; the planting's already done, now we just let nature do its job by taking up its role in the affair while we provide the water. We've also looked over an interesting blueprint for a greenhouse the girls over at The Auburn Tulip wish to set up near Apple Park and we unanimously agreed that it'd be a great idea to set one up so people can see the flowers on display." That being said, he produced a manila folder from under his arm and opened it to pull out the very set of blueprints he wanted to show the Devil. "What do you think, Kcalb?"

"Let me take a look…" Kcalb replied and accepted the documents, analyzing them to make sure everything was covered in the blueprints before returning them with a smile. "Certainly, we'll follow through with them on the establishment of this greenhouse since it is a great idea."

"I'll be sure to let them know when I go in tomorrow to pick up some flowers for the offices in the library. Those should help brighten the place up seeing as how some of the flowers there are already beginning to perish. I'd ask Lady Etihw to revive them, but I believe the natural cycle must take its course," Othros briefly explained, taking the blueprints back and putting them away.

"How was Grora today when she arrived in the garden to help you guys?"

The bat demon looked up again to make eye contact with the Devil. "Fine, aside from being in a hissy fit at first because she got caught trying to beat the cat demons once again. Other than it being the source of her complaints, the angel was perfectly alright and didn't cause any problems. She didn't even run off to attack them again when they arrived back from wherever they went."

"That's good, though I wonder whether this behavior will persist forever or eventually stop at some point," Kcalb commented, recalling how he and Etihw scolded her for trying to kill those girls again. "Hopefully she will desist from it and accept the fact she doesn't have to like them. I'd much rather want Grora to forgive Ater and become friends with them, but we shouldn't force that solution. Encouraging it for now should suffice, though it's ultimately her decision to be friendly."

Othros nodded in agreement. "Quite right, sir; and if she doesn't, that's her choice."

"Indeed," Kcalb also nodded. "By the way, Othros, have you heard back from your contacts regarding the matter I spoke to you of regarding the girls' parentage? Has anything new come up?"

Othros frowned, aware of exactly what the Devil was inquiring about. Yes, he had certainly looked into the matter and never gave up for them either like Kcalb. He sent letters out to many of them, even going so far as to meet them in person. In some cases he even resorted to the bribes he disliked using, though utilized only for the protections of others and his friends whom he loved to help. Unfortunately, all of the results from his national contacts in other regions came back rather negative, and so did the foreign associates he had. Once he even asked Mitchell to check with that guild he was formerly a part of, but the monkey demon also came up empty-handed when he heard back from them. "I'm afraid not, sir. They haven't sent word to me for quite a while, so I contacted them just recently and received the same old response from them: no news from anywhere."

Kcalb stared at the bat demon, silently brooding over the response before closing his eyes. "I see…" he murmured softly and picked up a framed photo of him and the cat demons resting on his desk to gaze somberly at it. The photo was a picture of the kitties when they were around three years old, holding favorite toys in their hands while clinging to Kcalb, and it was still a fine quality picture even after so many years ago. He stared at it and sighed, shutting his eyes again and putting it back down where the photo was. "It's been so long since we first started looking for them…"

"It might be even longer still," Othros commented, the mood of the conversation becoming gloomy due to the subject they both began to discuss—a contrast to pleasantries of a greenhouse and their hope for Grora's resignation of her bad behavior towards the cat demon twins. However, there was yet another aspect to this matter that would take it down a dark turn, and the bat demon's reluctance to speak it caved in the face of it being a reality—one they didn't want to accept despite the fact they both realized it was certainly possible. "They might not even be alive anymore." That was a grim truth they wished wasn't true, though they couldn't deny the fact it was a valid notion.

"I know, but…" the Devil stated, swiveling in his chair to gaze at the crescent moon outside the window. "I'd rather not believe it for their sakes. Ater and Arbus miss them dearly, but Ater's been affected by this topic more than her sister. She's asked me several times where they are, and I am afraid I won't know what to tell them. Yet I fear giving up the search for their parents more."

"Everyone does," Othros concurred with Kcalb, the tension hanging thickly over them due to its depressing nature. Even he and the others who were worried about the kitties had to admit it wasn't going to be a pleasant subject until the girls' parents were located, or at least when a single clue emerged to point them in the right direction. "Still, what else can we do but keep searching?" He ran a hand through his short, auburn colored hair to brush locks of it out of his eyes.

"Indeed," Kcalb agreed with him, "though I do wonder how much longer this will take. It's beginning to feel like an eternity waiting for some lead to pop up, and I'm doing my best to prevent myself from doubting whether we should retire from searching because I hope something will soon come up. When I think of Ater and Arbus, I imagine how much more enriching their lives can be; how the presence of their parents could make them so much happier than they already are."

"I know, and I hope we find them soon so the kitties can finally meet their parents," Othros concurred with the general feeling he, Kcalb, and everyone else who knew of the search shared. It was certainly difficult looking for possible leads when none were around, but they had to keep on digging for answers. "Though I don't wish to dampen on our efforts in the search, how far are you willing to go for their sake, Kcalb? I don't mistrust your judgment, but if you are forced to decide on which is more important—finding for their parents, or preserving their happiness—what would be your decision: to press on for more information, or spare the girls from untrustworthy sources and horrible truths that could scar them and forever shatter their ever so cheerful happiness?"

It was a valid question, one which made Kcalb think as he shut his eyes to ponder what he would do in that situation. "To be honest…" he murmured after a couple minutes of silence, "I do not know yet which of those choices I'll have to make. Both have their benefits and consequences. While discovering the whereabouts of their parents would make them happy, an unhappy result of our search could be yielded from our efforts and the sources we look to. They might not be around anymore, or they may have abandoned them on purpose and never want to see them again. Whether those are lies or not is uncertain unless supported by solid, concrete evidence. Either way, I'm not sure what I'd be able to tell them afterwards when we do manage to uncover something."

"We'll all have to think of something to say together," Othros suggested, willingly allowing himself to join in so Kcalb didn't have to do it alone. "We're all in this together for them."

Kcalb nodded, acknowledging his support with a small smile. "Yes, we certainly are."

…

"Damn…to think that all this hassle over what to get those bloody girls as an apology was such a nuisance…" she muttered under her breath, ambling up the stairwell since the elevators she could've taken were already occupied by employees who lived in the village as opposed to here, a great place with exceptional living quarters and enough room for guests from elsewhere. To say it was a bother would be an unfounded comment because of one's personal preference, and she didn't want to insult others' choice of where to live because it was mean and it didn't really matter to her. Grora may have lived in the castle alongside some of the other employees like her friends, though that wasn't justification to brag about it. Besides, her mind was already on something else.

With a small sigh of frustrated irritation, the angel opened up a plastic bag she got from the gift shop near the reception area in Blancblack Castle's main foyer. A bunch of cat treats and toys comprised the contents and she picked one out at random and stared at it, annoyed with the notion of her having to purchase something to say she was sorry to Ater and Arbus for attacking them. It was a direct order from Etihw herself, and Grora did not dare to cross it despite not liking it. While she did despise the cat demons—mostly Ater—the Goddess and Kcalb instructed her to once again desist in her assaults on them. She merely stood by and acted affirmatively in response to the orders they gave, but all three of them were well aware nothing would change that because the angel was definitely going to do it again. Grora couldn't help it; whenever she saw Ater, she wanted to murder her by hurting the poor kitty so bad that she actually wanted to obliterate her over the accident.

Closing her eye, Grora sighed again as she thought back to that terrible day when the spiked marble Ater carelessly shot from a slingshot gouged her eye out. How the cat demon discovered it was beyond her, though Ater and Arbus had unknowingly wandered into the barracks when young. Nobody noticed they were there since everyone was busy, but all of those present soon came to be aware once Grora started screaming in pain after investigating why the armory door was ajar. They found her slumped against the wall, holding her left eye in pain as tears flowed down her face from her right eye…and within the room was the pair of cat demons. Arbus hadn't touched a thing, but Ater's curiosity got the better of her which led to her taking the slingshot and trying it out to grasp what it was like. The first shot she fired was the last one before she dropped it and cried with Arbus over having done something they shouldn't have which got them in quite a bit of trouble.

That was decades ago, and Grora still refused to forgive Ater for the accident. She was not going to, and she didn't have to. However, she was forbidden from abusing her and Arbus. It might have been considered overkill—as a matter of fact, it was overkill due to how extreme she went in comparison to the accident—but the angel didn't give a shit so long as Ater paid with her life. That was definitely a much higher currency than she had paid herself when the cat demon took her eye by accident. People said curiosity killed the cat, and Grora wished it would come true soon instead of sometime later because curiosity already seized her eye and she refused to get a brand new one, or at least see to it that her grave wound was cured of any diseases and bacteria and healed fully.

"This really blows big time…Why must I be the one who has to waste her money on these useless trinkets for a useless pair of good-for-nothings? They should at least earn an allowance of sorts to buy this shit instead," she complained, crossing her arms while walking. Opening the door up top, she stretched her wings back behind her to step through before flapping them gently. "Man, why can't those little shits ever purchase what they want instead of badgering others to do it. They live here too; would it kill them to learn some discipline?" Quickly jogging up another staircase to the top floor where the Goddess and Devil shared an office space and also where their bedrooms—and the Head Angel and cat demons since their bedrooms were here too—were located, Grora sauntered down a hall where Kcalb, Wodahs, and the kitties had their rooms. As it was pretty late and she figured Arbus and Ater had already gone to bed already, the angel decided to just waltz in quietly and place the treats and toys on the table in their room before booking it out of there without waking both of them up. She wouldn't bother lingering; she'd only want to kill them in their sleep.

Carefully pushing the door open and crossing the threshold to find them both asleep, Grora silently strode over to the table and put the stuff down like she planned. However, her initial choice to just leave right away was postponed when she caught sight of two books on the nightstands. She believed they were personal diaries, journals for them to record their thoughts. Although Grora did not like intruding on others' personal privacy, she put her hands on her hips and stepped toward a pure white journal with Arbus' name on it surrounded by flower doodles and in black print. Taking the manuscript in her hand, the angel flipped through the pages and carefully read each one because she believed the cat demons might've been planning on getting back at her for chasing them. Then again, perhaps simply doing nothing and letting her get caught was always their plan for revenge. Yet Arbus' diary contained nothing of the sort, just casual remarks about how their days went.

Seeing as how that one had nothing of interest written in it since there was nothing in plain sight or in some kind of code—Grora knew how to break those from her days in the war, and these days she sometimes utilized the skill as a fun brain teaser—she set it back down. Heading around the bed Ater and Arbus shared, the angel picked up the similar black diary and opened it to a page indicated by a bookmark. Reading through the entry, Grora found nothing of interest until her eye fell upon a single paragraph down at the end which completely caught her by total surprise.

 _"I asked Arbus about our parents and she told me not to talk about them. Lord Kcalb says he's looking for them all the time, but…when will we see them? Why can't we meet them now? Did we do something wrong, Arbus and I? Is that why they won't come? I wish they were here."_

Caught off guard by the remark and how somber it sounded, Grora checked the other pages.

 _"I wish our parents were here."_

Those were the most common words at the bottom of every page, though the sentence was varied slightly from time to time even though it generally centered on that main idea. Grora's eye widened somewhat, pondering what the meaning of this discovery was while turning back towards the last page where she first saw the writing about the cat demons' parents. Looking over each line in that short paragraph, the angel analyzed the content sentence by sentence. From the sound of it, this whole subject about their parents seemed to leave Ater and Arbus divided on it; Arbus wanted to let the matter drop as possibly suggested by the absence of such remarks in her own diaries, but Ater's was full of allusions to their parents as if she was begging for them to show up one day.

Kcalb apparently conducted a search for the missing parental figures, but it appeared there was no luck in that regard, hence the uncertainty and nervousness Grora inferred from Ater's diary. The poor girl only wanted to meet them and was wondering when they could and why they weren't allowed to see them. Was the Devil hiding something from them like something unpleasant he did not want them to know? Did he not say why due to something the cat demons did as Ater referenced on the last page, but what was their offense? Thinking about it further, Grora hypothesized the two of them were in some kind of trouble in which Kcalb was angry with them and chose not to relate anything to them. But that didn't make any sense since he was looking for them, so was that matter about the search a lie concocted by the Devil to make them behave? It sounded plausible to Grora because they were always misbehaving by not listening to him, yet everyone—including Kcalb—loved them. He wouldn't keep something like that from them, though Grora definitely would since that could've been considered part of the payback against Ater for accidently gouging out her eye.

Averting her attention to the sleeping cat demon lying on the bed, Grora stared at her before turning back to the diary. Ater sounded desperate to see them, afraid their parents wouldn't come. Although the angelic woman considered whether that accident had anything to do with it, she could feel as if what happened wasn't involved with this subject. Some kind of sixth sense was informing her mentally about how this seemed to be a different subject entirely, one she stumbled upon even though it was by accident—just like the problem with her absent left eye. While she could ponder whether to incorporate this discovery into her punishments…Grora realized she'd strike a nerve to break Ater's sanity, especially since she believed it was already crippled to begin with because of her assaults against the cat demon. That was a tender nerve at best, and she thought it wasn't right to delve into this too deep and say or do something to upset Ater over her parents' absence.

With a frown, Grora set the diary back down and quietly left the room, leaving the girls in peace. It didn't sit right with her knowing that something else was making Ater suffer besides her, and it made the angel feel a bit sorry for her for once because she had no justification for utilizing the lack of parental guidance and attention in Ater's presence to punish her. Grora still didn't really feel much sympathy for her, and she hated Ater with every fiber of her being…but she would never go that far in her torture of the poor girl. Doing so would just be too cruel and make her a monster. Grora couldn't live with that guilt despite already having wholeheartedly accepted the fact that she constantly beat the cat demon to a bloody pulp all the time and enjoyed it as revenge for her eye.

"Evening, Grora," Kcalb greeted her cordially as she exited. "You brought the apology?"

"Sir Devil…" she murmured quietly so as not wake Ater and Arbus from their slumber due to having spotted him leaning against the wall by his bedroom door with his back against it. "You saw all that, didn't you?" The angel wasn't surprised since she knew she'd left the door wide open, but she still asked anyway. Grora believed she got herself in trouble again. "Sorry for having read their diaries. I didn't mean to disturb their privacy," she remarked, but the Devil shut his eyes and shrugged. His reaction confused her, more so when he opened his door and bade her to enter. She followed him and took a seat at the table once he invited her to sit as Kcalb went over to a telescope and gazed at the moon and the night sky through it. "So, I'm to be punished again, I take it?"

Kcalb shook his head. "No, not this time, Grora…" he commented somberly, looking into the telescope. "I just wanted to ask for your opinion about something, that's all."

"Sure, shoot," Grora ushered him on, waiting for the inquiry.

"What are your thoughts on what you've read? Specifically the closing remarks on each of the pages." So he had seen her pick up their diaries and read through them, yet his second sentence was alluding to Ater's. Grora figured he must've read their diaries too at some point before her, so she decided she might as well share her thoughts as Kcalb requested of her by discussing that bit.

"Pretty sad, really. I'd have expected hers to be happy like Arbus', but she sounds gloomy."

"Indeed, I fear this subject is taking quite a heavy toll on Ater," Kcalb admitted, not taking his eyes of the night sky. "My only wish is for them to be happy, and I'm doing what I can to make it remain like that. It's tough for we've not found any leads and Othros has confirmed his contacts don't know. He's been keeping me up to date on clues alongside contacts of my own, and we've got others here at the castle involved in the search as well. Yet nothing's come up at all."

"I see…" Grora murmured, taking a pen from a container on the table and fiddling with it. For some reason the minor activity fascinated her, and she didn't know why. Perhaps it was a way of trying to think of something else. Nevertheless, she managed to pose two inquiries to him. "How long has this investigation been going on? Have they done something to warrant not being told?"

"Aside from their behavior, no," Kcalb answered the second question first, now sauntering away from the telescope to sit across from Grora. "I want to find their parents for them, but we've found nothing despite having spent decades searching." That was the answer to her first question. "I wish I could tell them something, give them a status update on the investigation, but there is not a thing to relate that hasn't been told already." He frowned and sighed, shutting his eyes.

"So you've been working on a cold case for decades and made no progress, eh?" That was a reasonable question even if the tone of voice Grora used to put it forth wasn't really sympathetic enough. He nodded and she sighed as well. "I guess you might be doubting whether to turn in your towel on this one, Sir Devil—a presumptuous thing to say, I know, but food for thought."

"You're right, Grora, there is a grain of truth to your statement," the Devil conceded since he couldn't deny the fact it was true. "Even so, I don't want to give up. I want to still try, for their sakes, Grora. Although I cannot ever be a true father of sorts to Ater and Arbus, I still think of the two of them as cherished loved ones despite the fact I can't replace their real parental figures."

So he was kind of like their foster father in a way. If so, perhaps Etihw was a foster mother to them too. Grora pondered whether that was the case, but figured it was probably true. "Could it be why you refuse to let this cold case die? That you'd risk a lot for that goal to be fulfilled?"

"I've been over that with Othros, but I'm not sure what I'd tell them when and if we acquire a possible link, clue, or a lead on their parents' whereabouts," Kcalb admitted. "It's a difficult topic to go over with them, something we have no way of preparing for because we have nothing to even work on in that regard. What we discovery could be elaborate, or fairly straightforward; it'll either be a truth, or a lie. In any case, we need evidence to support any leads we discover, if any."

Grora figured as much because she knew it was hard to establish theories based on nothing to little information in cold cases when there was a scant amount of evidence to back them up. "So you're still grasping for straws in the hope you'll find something despite there being none at all?"

"You could say that."

The angel shut her eye, frowning as she stood up to leave. "No offense to your efforts, Sir Devil, but it sounds to me like your investigation could be all for nothing if you haven't found any clues for decades. Harsh, I know, but applicable when there's nothing driving it on any further."

"True, I do admit there isn't anything yet," Kcalb murmured, "but I still want to hope there will be something soon. Before you go, Grora, there's just one more question I'd like to ask."

"Go on," she encouraged him to speak it.

"Do you understand now just how much pain Ater and Arbus are in? I've told them I want them to fulfill only one order even if they disobey everything else, and that's to not speak of it due to the emotional and psychological harm this subject can cause under these conditions. If you have already analyzed Ater's remarks about that—and I feel you did—you'd know Ater does not really comply with it out of fear and sorrow for being left in the dark on this, whereas Arbus has followed my request straight to the letter. They're divided and conflicted on this issue, and I worry it'll cause a deeper divide between them that might not ever be mended. You think so too, do you, Grora?"

She didn't know how to respond. Her hatred for Ater consumed her, and she willingly gave into that darkness so long as she could have her revenge. Now, however, it felt like she was starting to become a little unsure of herself, how that disdain was molding her into something she was not. Nevertheless Grora pushed aside her doubts and answered honestly. "I think it's terrible, though it does not change how I feel about Ater. She took my eye, after all, and I still want my revenge."

"Over an accident she already repented for?" Kcalb raised an eyebrow, feeling she did not get the message and the meaning inherent within it. "When will you ever forgive Ater for that?"

"Never, though I will concede the point and say that I do understand her a little better. That will not stop me, however, but I shall respect the problem by not bringing it up or utilizing it unto her as part of my revenge," Grora said, her voice full of conviction. "You have my word on that."

"I see…" Kcalb shut his eyes and consented the debate. "Fair enough, but know this—"

"I know, you'll still punish me for other offenses against them," she said and left the room.


	3. Chapter Three: A Memory in a Dream

_"This isn't good…" Etihw murmured from her desk, reading today's newspaper and taking a sip of espresso Wodahs poured for her and Kcalb while the Goddess and Devil began their day. "We've only just declared the truce between our people not too long ago, and already we're hitting a rough start." It was true, they had ended the war to establish peace after centuries of conflict in which they fought a meaningless war over nothing. Their fight was worthless, and it only made the affairs between angels and demons in their world worse because of the natural law citing they had to hate one another and be mortal enemies throughout all of existence. That one rule had been the guideline they followed, neither side adding meaning to it since it hardly made any difference even if one or both of them created justified motivations for wanting to fight each other for long ages._

 _"What'd you expect, Eti?" Kcalb asked from his own desk and took a sip of his drink. "We are still angels and demons respectively. Constructing peace after warring against one another is bound to be difficult at the beginning until we can really get things rolling. There will be anarchy, conflict against us for deciding to make a truce we hope can last forever. It is not impossible since we can do it, but these things must take time to settle in. At the very least, many of our people have come to accept our decision and welcome it wholeheartedly; although I thought the resentment in this world might've been more widespread, it isn't as bad as I originally believed before this."_

 _"No argument there, Kcalb, but we must find out who the perpetrators are nonetheless due to our desire to preserve the peace," the Goddess remarked, making eye contact with him and then turning to address Wodahs and Grora to get their opinion of this matter. "Any ideas, you two?"_

 _"Could be anyone, really," the female angel commented, leaning against the wall. A black, sleeveless vest she wore over a white sweater brushed against the fireplace mantle while she made sure to cross her legs, the fabric of her gray jeans also brushing up against itself. "Whether it's a group of angels or demons, or just one individual is difficult to tell when examining the bloodshed. Whoever's slaughtering our people is vicious and calculating. Perps don't want to get caught."_

 _"Indeed," Wodahs concurred with her opinion, though he offered up another crucial detail to improve his coworker's statement. "However, I have been going over the reports and evidence we gathered from the crime scenes. Apparently clues point to angels as the culprits. As this casts doubt on angels since the culprits haven't been apprehended yet, I will take personal responsibility and endeavor to catch them before any more innocent lives are claimed by their hands again."_

 _"I see, so allow Kcalb and I to offer our support too by bringing all perpetrators to justice for their crimes," Etihw offered him while the Devil nodded in agreement with her idea. "We shall not exile or kill them right away unless they fight back, in which case we would have to rout them all from the Gray Garden or slay them in combat. I do not approve of either option, hence why I'd like to put the culprits on trial instead once we catch them so a jury council can decide their fate."_

 _"Very well, but let's take the death penalty off the table," Kcalb suggested. "We don't want our message to come across as advocation for resorting to murder to protect our world. If anything is to be decided, the criminals should be given a choice to mend their ways and take part in society, or they can go into voluntary exile. If either decision is rejected, we'll have to make it for them."_

 _"Seems like that might allow them the opportunity to commit more crimes," Etihw said._

 _"True, choosing to make amends could be a front for that," Kcalb conceded the debate. "I still think they should be given a chance while under supervision to ensure they aren't dangerous."_

 _Etihw shut her eyes and put a bent finger to her chin. "Yes, that could work," she murmured softly before opening them in determination. "Very well, it's decided. We shall take this course of action in the trial. Now that we've got a fair means of due process, we must now concentrate efforts on the locations where these horrible crimes took place. Wodahs, did the reports suggest common areas with spaces where the victims were found and what they all may possibly share in common?"_

 _"As a matter of fact they have," Wodahs answered affirmatively and nodded. "All of them, the victims, were slain in and around Gray Village and Blancblack Castle, Lady Etihw."_

 _The Goddess' face darkened because she didn't like the sound of that. It surprised her since this region of the Gray Garden was thought of as the heart of their world even though nobody said it was since they preferred for every place to be unique in its own way. "That close to home, huh?"_

 _"Seems like we have our work cut out for us if the criminals are somewhere among people in this region. Any angel could be a potential suspect, whether it's civilians or authorities," Kcalb stated critically, wondering where they could look. "They would have to be somebody we may not suspect, someone close to us in both proximity and relationships. Anyone here could be a suspect."_

 _"A bunch of trouble if you ask me," Grora piped up again with a small smile and shrugged. "Whoever it is would obviously have gone to great lengths not to get caught while still ensuring a trail was developed in the killing spree. These murders definitely have that odd vibe to them."_

 _"Yes, we just have to follow it and make sure no slipups cost us anything," Etihw remarked. "These culprits may be smart enough to utilize spies amongst us, hence why we must keep this all close to the chest in order to not divulge anything that can jeopardize this important mission."_

 _"Want me to head down to the barracks and check in with the investigative team on findings they may have discovered?" Grora asked, addressing the Goddess and the Devil together. "We've probably hit some kind of jackpot in terms of evidence, however, minor or significant it could be."_

 _Kcalb nodded to give his approval. "Sure, bring us anything of interest to this case."_

 _"Right, be back in a flash," she uttered with a wave of her hand and headed out. Stepping into the hallway, Grora ambled over to an elevator and pressed a button for the floor the barracks were located on. It arrived and she stepped inside once the door opened to admit her in. No other employees bothered her, or even called it for that matter which was why she was alone during the whole ride down. With no one to interrupt her, Grora shut her eyes and began humming a peaceful tune while crossing her arms and leaning up against a wall in the elevator, waiting for the descent to stop. Eventually it did and the door opened so the angel could walk into the corridor and cross it right into the barracks where guards were busy with their work. They were preparing themselves for any emergencies that sprang up suddenly as ordinary investigators such as Siegfried prepared reports on the crimes being committed. Her business was not with them, however, since Grora was entering the forensics department in the barracks to speak with the scientists in there._

 _However, her specific contact was Desmond, an angel developing the case file on forensics._

 _"Yo, Desmond, have anything on the recent murders so far?" she asked, sauntering toward him and shaking his hand once he offered it as Grora looked him over. His attire was simple, like the way this world had become, wearing only a regular pair of blue jeans and a green long sleeve shirt with an eyeglass over his right eye and long blue hair flowing down to his shoulders. "There must be something amongst what we collected to point us towards the killers, right? Can't have a few rogues running around assassinating others just because they hate peace and like old ways."_

 _"Right you are, Grora, punctual as ever on time and in your remarks!" he replied and took her over to a drawer by lab equipment set up on a table near a pair of demons and a fellow angel he worked with in here. "These killings really do cause nothing but trouble. A shame everyone has to ruin the harmony for others over not being able to handle it themselves." Opening it, Desmond removed a folder while the other three forensic scientists went to the other side of the room as they all began to work on one of the corpses recovered from the crime scene. Handing it to her, he gave the lady a smile and carefully glanced at his coworkers suspiciously while she looked it over._

 _Grora smiled too. "Everything looks A-Okay from here. I'll bring this up to Lady Etihw as well as Sir Devil now. Keep up the good work, Desmond, and good luck to you all," she commented and wished them well while exiting the office and crossing over to leave the barracks behind her._

 _"Thanks, we'll keep you all up to speed with our progress," he answered her and nodded._

 _"Sure, thanks!" Grora called back to him and turned around to wave goodbye, accidently bumping into a demon on the way out and apologizing to him for not looking where she was going. "Sorry about that, dude, I just need to pay better attention next time. You're not mad, right?"_

 _"Nope, all good, everything's fine," he spoke up and went his own way, waving goodbye._

 _"Yep, see you around," she remarked and entered the elevator after pressing the button to open it. The door closed behind her when she pressed another button for the top floor. Once again Grora found herself alone in it with nobody on the other floors pressing the call buttons. Because it seemed like nobody needed to use it which gave her time to go over the documents more closely than when she was in the forensics lab, the angel opened the folder and examined them once more. "Perfect…" she said softly with a small smile, closing the folder when she was done. "This should do the trick just fine. Desmond certainly did his job well. All I have to do is deliver them and then go see Hastur. He should be waiting for me to show up soon and meet the new recruits."_

 _Her smile widened since she was thankful Etihw and Kcalb didn't suspect her of anything. Grora knew Desmond had carefully forged the fabricated findings in the folder as instructed which would throw the Goddess and Devil off their trail and onto another path entirely. She would bring the false files up to them and neither would be none the wiser. Even the Head Angel didn't suspect she was in on the killings even if all of them weren't by her hands. In their eyes, she was in fact an accomplice—would be if she got caught. And even if she was discovered to be a traitor among the group, Grora had a solid testimony Hastur helped her form so those three could understand where she and the others involved with them were coming from. These murders were necessary according to Hastur because their victims were actually traitors themselves, people trying to overthrow their Goddess by working with demons under Kcalb's orders to get close and assassinate the angels._

 _Although their small organization—True Light, as they called it because Hastur named the group—had little evidence of their own to support that accusation, the members believed in him a lot nevertheless. Enough to take his word for it as a matter of fact, and Grora was no different due to putting her faith solely in him. She followed his every order straight to the letter and stood next to him as the second-in-command of True Light, the officer in charge of helping him govern, lead, and administer their organization's duties. It was a secretive society, one with few members since there were only around twenty individuals exactly—plus the three new recruits if possible because she and Hastur were masters of immediately spotting which recruits were spies or not. While they couldn't engage in open warfare against the traitors, they utilized every skill they knew to perform guerilla stealth missions as secret freedom fighters for their people, the angels. Every member was an angel committed to the cause, and they would succeed where Etihw had failed, taken in by those lies Kcalb and Wodahs fed her—even the Head Angel himself was a target, and Grora was the one assigned to get close to him and assassinate Wodahs when an opportune moment presented itself. That would pave the way for Hastur to eliminate Kcalb once he had the chance to lead True Light into the castle by way of stealth and cut down all of their opponents in secret with them unaware._

 _It was the perfect plan in their eyes, and everyone had faith in Hastur because not only did they all think he was going to succeed, they knew it wholeheartedly quite well since Hastur's skills in combat were simply amazing. He was superior in strength to the Devil despite being unable to wield magic, but it didn't matter as he could easily outmaneuver the Devil and his forces without breaking a sweat. In time, that would soon be a reality as they ushered in the return of the old era: a time of warfare between angels and demons as according to natural law. Hastur's work and his goals would soon be realized, and Grora smiled knowing that she was his right hand._

 _The elevator door opened on the top floor and she stepped out, recognizing the Head Angel standing outside in the hallway. "You're back with the findings?" he asked, entering the elevator._

 _"Yep, I'm bringing them in now before taking my lunch break unless there's nothing else," Grora replied, stepping out once he walked in to let him go wherever he'd been sent. She couldn't care less about his movements since the angelic woman knew he was still on point with the squads assigned to patrols. Wodahs was going to be heading one as a fellow True Light member informed her before. That angel promised to keep a close watch on him, and she wouldn't let the Head Angel out of her sights while he led the squad he manned. Grora had her assurance, so with him on some fool's errand she had freedom to move around freely than in his presence to prepare the stage for Kcalb's downfall. Wodahs learned that angels caused the deaths, but they'd outsmart him as usual._

 _"No, there is nothing else we'd need from you for now aside from leading a patrol through and along the western border of this region for suspects later," he replied. "You're certainly free to head out for lunch after turning the documents over, Grora. See you later, and be careful around other angels. You never know which of them might be the traitors among our people around here."_

 _"Right, right, I know. I'll be careful," she promised him as the elevator door shut. Leaving him to his own devices, the angel began to walk towards the office Kcalb and Etihw shared. Grora figured Wodahs would say something like that, fully aware of his own treasonous designs against Lady Etihw. As if he had the authority to make that remark. "You be careful too…traitorous cur."_

…

 _Her footsteps echoed throughout a tunnel in Daybreak Forest, the owner going to a secret underground mine from the old days when angels and demons were at war. The old signs were all damaged, desecrated by time since age had worn the wood and letters on them into corrosion. The place was once a silver mine where the angels acquired the valuable resource at times when Etihw was unable to produce more with her magic due to being involved in the war. A few buildings had been established here: consisting of the mining quarters for miners to reside in, a warehouse where the materials and tools were kept in addition to being used for offices of sorts, and a church where they could go to pray for success in their endeavors and an end to all the demons in their world._

 _Ambling into the clearing, Grora caught sight of a guard outside the church where they all gathered for meetings and waved to him. He returned the gesture and so did another guard waiting outside the warehouse to guard it and help arm his comrades. Everyone else was in the church as they waited for her to enter and begin the weekly meeting session all of them attended every Friday. The angelic woman crossed through the threshold, striding down the center aisle and glancing at her comrades around her. They were armed to the teeth, prepared to fight at a moment's notice if they were discovered here. This was a contrast to her own person being unarmed, yet Grora's own silver weapons and Mithril armor were displayed on a weapon rack and mannequin because she'd earned the privilege for being Hastur's right hand girl. Being of such high rank in True Light was a blessing, one she was very grateful for and lucky to have since she was by his side in his presence._

 _Noting his presence at the far wall where the cross rested, Grora smiled when she saw him leaning up against it like a forlorn hero abandoned by his people for another purpose with a cause. Decked out in Mithril armor like the set she used with a brown overcoat over it trailing down to his legs, Hastur clearly did have the appearance of an old relic in person from the past. Twin silver war axes remained at his sides on the belt with no sheaths for them, but the twin silver katanas on his back had sheaths. His short, ruffled black hair blew gently in a faint breeze coming through a broken window as he took a good, hard look at Grora when she approached his position. "You're here," he murmured aloud and nodded, shutting his hazel colored eyes and motioning for her to begin the meeting. "It is time for us to start; Desmond already destroyed the real evidence."_

 _"Indeed, I have, and nobody at the castle suspects a thing," he remarked with a smile and basked in the glory of having outsmarted those fools in Blancblack Castle with them unaware of it because he was careful to ensure no trace of it was left behind when he disposed of the clues which would point the authorities to their position. "Our plan is going smoothly as a matter of fact, and I can already feel we're making great strides for our people. They might not believe us at first due to our guerilla techniques being dubbed as murders, but this is for the good of all angels. A shame we must resort to stealth instead of fighting for our meaningful cause like true martyrs, though."_

 _"We act like assassins only because we have a greater chance to get our message across," Grora explained briefly to politely interject as she took her place at the pedestal and gazed at this small congregation of followers like a lector or pastor addressing his flock. "Even if we fail in our endeavors, at least our deaths would have a much more significant meaning. The martyrs of times in the past were successful in making their voices heard, but at the risk of not having made much of an impact on those in power who suppressed them. Authority figures seek to maintain their seats in power, hence why they'll do anything to hold onto it and steal it by force for their own sakes."_

 _"Only a population of the entire populace would identify with the martyrs and fight by the sides of such heroes and heroines," Hastur went on to address their group. "They would see their message as true and just, hence why they support them. However, others who fear the regimes and don't risk to anger them are cowards who refuse to rise up. More still curry favor with governments that are corrupt and unclean. Ours is one such government; by making false peace with the Devil, Lady Etihw has been taken in by the lies he and the false Head Angel spewed to her. She's blinding herself to the fundamental truth we have all known: that angels and demons are meant to fight and never make truces with each other. This rule is supported by the truth that demons will always lie; they lie to get what they want: power over all that is good and just. Many have been blinded; we've got to open their eyes and show them the truth they have always known and closed their eyes to."_

 _"You are quite right, sir," Grora concurred with his speech and smiled at him. "Yes, your words bear much validity to them. All of us present knew this truth is accurate," she went on while addressing everyone else. "We've seen the true light and know it is real, but others like Lady Etihw have deviated from the path they must follow—are meant to follow unconditionally. Our role is to open their eyes to the light and show them the false webs of lies they've become entangled in. Only then will we have succeeded in our mission to save our people from the demons and Fallen Angels who plague our world and seek to eliminate Lady Etihw and her fellow comrades to seize power."_

 _"In doing so, we will return our filthy world back to the way it once was: clean and holy," Hastur continued, stepping away from the cross to head into the center aisle. "Even if we were to perish along the way, at the very least we must have left behind a firm impact that will make others see the truth and consider it before deciding to join us. And join us they will, for we shall not abide cowards and traitors, both of whom we shall slay without hesitation since they don't deserve mercy at all." With that said, he averted his attention back to Grora to give a command to her. "Let these new recruits of ours in so we may analyze them, Grora." When she nodded and saluted him before going over to a door in the back of the church, Hastur turned back to the crowd and spoke up once more. "Our numbers are small and so is our growth, but we are progressing in our plans."_

 _"And here we have another generation of angels who shall follow us," Grora added to the conversation, purposely interjecting since it was a privilege awarded only to the right hand—her. "These three fellows here have expressed yearning to join our cause, and we shall put them to the test and see if they are truly worthy of fighting alongside us as comrades." After having presented them all to True Light, she turned towards the three angels. Motioning for them to stand in a line, she and Hastur walked around it to observe the angels before finally stopping on either side of the line they formed with her on the left end, him on the right. "This concludes this first trial," Grora declared and turned to the new initiates who seemed confused as to why it was that easy at first._

 _"And of our three initiates, only two have passed," Hastur added before Grora went on._

 _"And the third…" she said with a medium length pause so she could unsheathe a blade on a display rack over on the left wall which she walked over to for the weapon. Holding it so the tip of the sword was touching the wooden floor beneath them, Grora kept her eyes closed as the three recruits wondered what she planned to do with it. Granted, they were already aware of what would happen to the unlucky third, though none of them were aware of who it was until Grora's eyes shot wide open as she quickly drove the blade into one of them. She had pierced the heart of the recruit next to Hastur and swung the weapon up to make a large, vertical gash in the body. Blood pooled out from the wound and spilled on them while the angelic woman bent down to remove a parchment of paper from his pocket and open it up to read it before showing it to everyone. "You see here a note from the false Head Angel himself, authorizing this angel to spy on us! Know this, this is what happens to moles and traitors who seek to bring down True Light! They will fail, whereas we will ultimately succeed in our mission to reopen our people's eyes to the light! We shall prevail!"_

 _Everyone there cheered, glad to have been part of a cause worth fighting for. As they were celebrating the entry of two new recruits by welcoming them into their fold, Hastur stepped toward Grora and smiled at her since he was once again pleased with her efforts and contributions to the organization. "Well done as always, Grora. You've yet again proven your commitment to light."_

 _"Don't I always?" she asked with a smile of her own. "But thank you, nonetheless, sir. I'm honored to stand by your side and fight alongside you in the quest to bring light back to our people. However, I am concerned for our organization because Wodahs already knows angels are killing the civilians. That must be why this spy has entered our organization: to ascertain our identities."_

 _Hastur merely waved her concern aside. "It doesn't matter, for we can paint Fallen Angels as the culprits to divert attention off of us. They'll believe another faction is among them and also against them, leading to conflict between the two parties. That'll conceal our presence, and they'll be unwary of us until it is too late for them. Let us use this to our group's advantage, Grora."_

 _Grora smiled and saluted him. "Yes, sir!"_

…

Meanwhile, back to the present day, Grora's lone eye flittered open slowly at first before a yawn escaped her mouth. Sitting up in bed, attired in brown pajamas, the angelic woman stretched her arms in the air and then quietly swung her legs over the bedside to stand up. Ambling into her bathroom, Grora looked in the mirror and frowned at the sight of herself. She had no regrets about herself now, but back then she was led to believe Hastur really was a savior the angels of this world needed. It was the one thing she ever regretted in life because he lied to her, and she felt better due to his absence. With him gone, there was a chance for her to make amends for everything she had done while serving as his second-in-command. Grora took it, and now everyone's trust in her was already restored. After staring at her reflection for several minutes, she sighed and began the day.

…

"I had a dream last night."

Her comment garnered attention from her friends as they all sat on parts of an ancient stone formation that used to be part of a fortress that once stood here overlooking the Sea of Tears which had been formerly known as the Coast of Purity. This place had once been a fortified means of the angels' defense during the war, but now it was an attraction for villagers and tourists to come and take walks along the shoreline and search for buried relics and other small treasures. Mitchell came here with Rorin frequently with a couple metal detectors for that purpose, and Othros always liked to sit by the old fort and reminisce on the old days. All of them reflected on the war and how bad it was, preferring the peace of today over the conflict of their dark past. Grora agreed with all of them, recognizing that peace between angels and demons was a better alternative to war.

"What of?" Rorin inquired into it as they ate a lunch they prepared for this little picnic. "It must've been a morbid one at considering how zoned out you are today, Grora. Surely you haven't been thinking about hurting Ater and Arbus again, right?" The angelic woman grimaced, frowning since the thought of Ater paled in comparison to what she was actually thinking of sharing.

"That would be a good dream in my opinion, something to make me feel better," she could not help but admit it before displaying a small smile to try and take her mind of the past with some imaginary harm against the cat demons. "Sorry if my brooding was upsetting you guys, but I wasn't pondering about them for once. Last night I was dreaming about my involvement with True Light."

"Ah, the organization of freedom fighters you used to be a part of?" Othros murmured with a nod of acknowledgement. He took a bite of a pear which he'd been finishing and tossed the core in a paper bag he'd brought with them, taking a sip of his grape juice. "Angels who found it difficult to believe in the truce Lady Etihw and Lord Kcalb made with each other. Such opposition was not altogether uncommon since there were small pockets of suspicion and anarchy here and there back then. If I recall the history correctly, they were responsible for the murders of innocent angels and demons under the leadership of an angel named Hastur, one of the cruelest angels from the war."

"Quite right," Grora nodded to confirm the brief explanation from him. "He really was one of our worst, a man who would kill anyone—even his own comrades—to make a point stick." She bit down on the last bit of her tuna sandwich before throwing the plastic she held it in inside a bag of her own. "His skills were good enough to make him a candidate for being the Commander-in-Chief of the angels' whole military, but his cruelty and tyranny prevented him from achieving the post. A shame he continued to utilize such skills against innocent people; a greater shame that I helped him with the crimes and took my own share of lives under his authority and supervision." She sighed, imaginary blood spilling all over her hands and gave a literal meaning to being caught red-handed. "Thank god I made the decision to turn myself in, otherwise I risked becoming more of a monster like that foul cur who stained the true meaning of martyrdom and lied to everyone."

"Evaluating one's actions at a critical moment in a position like that can do that to anyone," Mitchell concurred with the confession from Grora even though they knew about it already. "I've experienced the same revelations back in my old guild, ultimately deciding to sheathe my weapon for good instead of wielding it for an evil I was never comfortable supporting. The money I earned as my cut of the pay put food on the table, but I was never satisfied with taking a life to live mine."

"None of us were like that in the past, but now we've found new meaning in our lives since the way our world is now has provided us with a purpose and cause worth fighting for," Rorin said in agreement, thinking back on the previous year's incidents. "When we were invaded and attacked by foes who sought to destroy the peace we've worked hard to build, I chose to take up my weapon once again to protect those I cared about and the way of life all of us have come to appreciate."

"We all had our part in those incidents, volunteering to defend values, friends, and families with our lives because they are all worth making the sacrifice for," Othros commented with a smile and looked at them while continuing to advance their shared speech. "The Gray Garden is a much better place than when angels and demons fought each other. Our world's unique in that regard whereas others choose to keep fighting, with a close exception being the world governed by Fumus and Satanick as their bond is okay despite being a shaky relationship between the two. Now that I think about it, I recall reading a text about another good example being the Flower World under Rosaliya Phantomrose due to the incident in which the God of her world, Liliya, was denounced and arrested as a war criminal by other deities. However, angels no longer inhabit that world."

"I remember hearing of that event through old colleagues of his once," Mitchell recollected on one of the contracts he'd taken with the guild. "My guild mates and I fought against some angels from his world after they'd abandoned him. One of the fellows we caught explained what happened before our leader executed him out of amusement." He sighed, crossing his arms and frowning due to remembering a terrible moment from his days in the guild. "Killing others as a fun sport…can't imagine how others can see the fun in that when lives truly are at stake. I was considered to be one of the weakest individuals they ever accepted just because I didn't want to use my skills to murder others in combat or out of it. Quite frankly, I didn't care about their jeers and I never wanted to do the deed myself—to slay another life for whatever reason when there was no real purpose to it."

"To be fair, Mitchell," Rorin raised a minor counterpoint, "killing anyone regardless of the motive is worthless depending on who you ask. Take Ivlis' invasion last year for example; he had wanted to destroy our world simply because we made peace while seeking to steal Kcalb's powers for himself. Although we managed to rout him and he survived, others from his forces weren't that lucky since we slew them. From their perspective, it could be considered murder; from ours, we've been doing whatever we can to uphold the peace and defend it and those we all cherish. While the invaders would think their cause is just, we believe our own is; it may not matter who is right, who is wrong, or who goes down the middle, but the common conception is that the one whose purpose is pure and benevolent will always remain the victor because of something worth fighting for."

"Yeah, pretty much anybody could secure victory for whatever cause, though purity and a strong sense of benevolence motivating that cause are a main idea in stories and the like at times," Grora remarked to continue the discussion as they all stood up and began to walk down to the sand after throwing their finished lunches in a wastebasket set up to collect trash. "It isn't like reality to be honest, but it can be made into a reality. I mean, look at us and our people; we've done it several times by now and have proven it is possible." She smiled and shut her eye, taking in a whiff of air from the coast as a gentle gust of wind blew by them. "We've faced down plenty of evil foes who attempted to destroy us and all we worked hard to maintain and build, and we can do it once again together." Her words rang true to her friends as they all concurred with her, agreeing it was better to stand together and work alongside each other united in a group rather than in an isolated party.

Having turned on their metal detectors which they took with them, the monkey demon and male angel started checking the beach for treasures as they walked and eventually Rorin found one item of interest buried in the sand. "Well, well, what do we have here," he uttered, stooping to dig it out with one hand while the others stopped to look at his find. "A badge of sorts…" he analyzed it, looking over the object and trying to make out the words on it. They were covered in grime and rust since the badge was made of metal copper, but eventually he could make out a name. "It says here the name of who this belongs to was a man named Desmond," he remarked curiously.

"There was an angel named Desmond in True Light," Grora piped up, offering that angel's name up as a suggestion even though there could have been other people with the name. "If there's a mark that looks like it could be in the appearance of a beacon with lines emanating from it, you'll see that is was the symbol of my old organization. That was Hastur's idea since he thought of each and every meaningful thing True Light used to advocate its cause—even the group's name as well. The Desmond in our group was a forensics scientist who disposed of evidence pointing to us."

"A viable means of throwing the authorities off your trail back then," Othros remarked and took the item to examine it too before nodding affirmatively. "Yes, there are indeed etchings of an image matching your description of the symbol, Grora. This clearly does seem to be his." Handing it to her, he offered the angel a suggestion as she considered what to do with it. "I'd say you could turn it into the anthropology department so they can analyze it and decide whether to display it, or hand it over to the guards in the barracks to dispose of it." Those were two ideas, but not one Grora accepted even though she smiled to show she appreciated the suggestions Othros provided.

"I could," she remarked, turning back in the direction of the wastebasket and taking several steps towards it before reeling her right side back and prepared to chuck the badge. "Or I could do this instead." Saying so, she hurled the badge as far as she could, shutting her eye and grinning out of satisfaction because she was successful. That old badge hit a pole the wastebasket was attached to, and the sound of it hitting the metal handle before they saw it fall in demonstrated how precise a bit of good accuracy from somebody with only one eye could be. Grora laughed, forming a fist as she brought her forearm up. "You see, guys, that's how you dispose of evidence by throwing it in the trash! Talk about dumping it where nobody—even yourself—will find it! A better option, if I do say so myself!" she exclaimed while laughing with them as they continued walking onwards.

"Indeed," Othros remarked in agreement and put his arm around her while she returned the gesture. "It certainly is a viable choice, especially when wanting to bury something you didn't like about your past. Though I'd much rather keep it as a reminder of the bad things so I won't ever be the way I was back then, it is understandable to put stuff like that behind oneself for moving on."

Grora shut her eye and smiled. "Damn straight, Othros, I sure as hell want to forget the fact I was even involved in that business to begin with. I know the castle's been holding onto things of True Light as a reminder of how not to handle affairs following a truce, but I don't bother heading by the area that stuff's in. Those hold nothing but bad memories, and while I do agree they're kind of necessary in that regard, such items are nothing more than useless trash in my opinion."

"Useless, yes," Mitchell agreed, "though not without a meaning to them. Remember, those old things are representations of a group that sought to protect old ideals to preserve tradition, like that one mage who built the animatronics in that museum—Germain, I believe his name is."

Although she scoffed at the remark, the angelic woman still smiled to show she recognized that was a true statement. "I get that, but Hastur's sense of traditional justice was clearly distorted."

"Maybe so, but the traditional way of things is a still a light," Rorin uttered to continue this discussion. "Not a very bright light when comparing it to our world's values now, but a light which holds some truth to it when considering the natural law of angels versing demons. I'm sure glad it doesn't apply to the Gray Garden anymore because the light of friendship between our people is a much brighter light than the darkened light of conflict will ever be. You could say it might be a bit too blinding, but not when you open your eyes to truly experience it firsthand; quite frankly, I think the light of the natural law is too blinding because one's eyes are open to only one perspective and closed to another. It's like keeping only one eye open; you've got to open both to see everything."

"Yeah," Grora agreed, chuckling before being snarky. "You'd better not be mocking me."

"Oh, heaven forbid my philosophical remarks offend the Cyclops in our group!" Rorin also laughed, lightheartedly joking about that to make the other angel punch him lightly in the arm.

"I think you might want to retract that statement, Rorin," Othros suggested with a chuckle. "Looks like you probably enraged her already. Better give a peace offering to appease her wrath."

"Okay, sorry about the comment, Grora. I can get you an ice cream or something later."

"Nah, it's all good, I get what you meant," Grora laughed with them as they continued their peaceful stroll, glad to have such great friends like these guys. They were certainly a lot better than Hastur, and although that guy fled the Gray Garden after she turned herself in and gave over plenty of information to the authorities on True Light's activities, she hoped to never see him ever again. She might've been taken in by his lies once, but not again would she follow him after his betrayal. If he returned, Grora would be sure to slaughter him on first sight without mercy to be rid of a man she had once considered to be her hero and role model, a perfect representation of the natural law. Like Desmond's old badge, Grora wanted to discard his life too for good to fully repent for herself.

…

 **And so we've finally seen Hastur and what the guy is like. As seen in this chapter, this will be how Grora is connected to him in one way; however, there will be more to it than just being the right hand of True Light. Everything will fall in place eventually as this progresses.**

 **Also, just to clarify something, I'm not in any way mocking the idea of martyrdom as I merely want to portray a moral which has been discussed in this chapter. That moral is the concept of opening one's eyes to the truth and light, something that means a lot to Grora and will be a difficult notion for her to handle. The reason why I'm utilizing this moral is because she could still be considered blind in some aspects as symbolized by the fact she only has one eye which could affect her depth perception. That may not only be a physical characteristic, but a symbolic one as well since Grora is not seeing the whole picture in the sense that she is refusing to consider how Ater (and Arbus, I might add) feels about the accident in which she lost her eye. The same could be said about her time in True Light under Hastur since Grora was blinded by him in terms of what was right and wrong. She didn't see the truth and what was felt by others in their world because of him. Martyrdom may not fit in with this moral, but the way Hastur is misusing it can be considered a means of blinding others to serve him. I mean no disrespect and offense to martyrs, but I apologize if they are offended by this.**


	4. Chapter Four: The Field Trip

Although Grora had said she never visited the location where items associated with her old organization were set up, the angelic lady nevertheless put some thought into the idea anyway for once. Visiting those things now would definitely bring up bad memories, but the fact they were in existence even to this day bothered her. Even so, Othros was right that keeping them around would serve as an anchor preventing her from going off the deep end again like she had in those old days. Ambling through the castle en route to the corridor where True Light's things were established as mere trinkets of the order's so called 'glory days' Grora sighed and brushed away locks of hair as she pondered whether they had any meaning to begin with. Yes, the old tradition of versing demons as angels back then was still a light, albeit dimmer than the current light they lived in now. In any case, that had changed with the coming of peace between them. However, Hastur had distorted the original purpose with his ideology and plans for the future in which he would've made attempts to defeat other deities and declare himself as the sole God of Existence in order to usher in a different form of harmony. He sought an existence in which all demons were all abolished and slain, killed simply because they were demons; the same fate would've befallen those who disagreed with him.

Looking back on the organization's affairs when it was still active and alive, Grora frowned since she realized it would never die because of all the members who actually were still alive, only she and Hastur remained. The two of them were the sole remnants of True Light—no, not that kind of light, for it was a very different light altogether. One that had been tainted by the darkness of he who sought to seize power for himself because he believed only he could maintain order and peace. Everyone else were mere tools to him, scapegoats Hastur could use and throw away while making the claim they were martyring themselves for a cause he himself fought for and advocated. He had tricked his comrades into believing him, and they paid the price for it with their lives. She would've too if she had eventually fallen along the way; perhaps she did in some respect, maybe in his eyes, though Grora had come to terms with that regard and knew she had found redemption by rising. It was a fall from True Light that enabled her to see beyond what Hastur showed her in the past.

With a small smile, she chuckled and shook her head, pondering on how foolish she'd been to think he was everyone's savior—her savior. Somehow it was kind of funny to her in a way since she had been humiliated by accepting everything he said as ultimate truths. "More like elaborated lies…" she whispered softly, recalling how she only achieved her salvation by confessing the grave sin she'd been committing. Thankfully she'd been forgiven for it because she discovered the cause she'd been fighting for was an old tradition that had to be put aside to move on and make peace in their world. Granted, it was still respected because it was still part of what this world was like back then during the war. Even so, people wanted to change which was why they left that tradition so a new era of harmony could be established. Because she had taken part in a radical order of zealous activists whose loyalty to Hastur was in fact fanaticism, Grora felt she couldn't be a part of a new world order consisting of peaceful harmony between angels and demons. While she had attempted to enter a voluntary exile to leave the Gray Garden forever, Lady Etihw, Kcalb, and Wodahs were insistent on her moving to another town in a different region of their world until things cooled off.

Stretching her arms behind her head, Grora thought about where her old boss was and how he was doing. She had hoped he was killed off by some demon, or slowly perished due to a wound Kcalb had dealt to his face: a diagonal gash from the lower temple to below Hastur's mouth. Even Wodahs had slashed his chest with a blade, leaving behind another gash. Hopefully Hastur wasn't alive anymore even though she still had her suspicions he somehow managed to survive in another world that took him in. Yet Grora was reassured by Lady Etihw that she sent letters to other deities requesting to not provide him any aid, and they responded back affirmatively. Then again, she knew better as she could read in between the lines, feeling that those deities could've lied because all they had to do was promise they wouldn't help him when he'd only have to help them. A simple trick of a silver tongue capable of being persuasive enough to lie to others who could likely believe lies regardless of how gullible they were. Elaboration made lies hard to disprove, thereby improved odds of success in that regard were often taken advantage of by people like Hastur seeking power.

Now that she thought about it, she remembered attending a little get-together with Froze's friends once for Chelan's sixteenth birthday a few months back just before this current year. While there, Grora listened to Macarona describe another Goddess by the name of Elux when the angelic woman inquired about what the young angel knew about Reficul's world when she went there just a couple months before around the time of the Doppelganger Murders. Apparently Elux was quite like Hastur in some ways from what Macarona told her, if a bit childish and stupid from what Lady Etihw had told her when she mentioned the other Goddess' name in passing during a conversation with her. From what she heard, it appeared Elux was also a liar like Hastur, except she tricked her whole heaven—aside from a few select individuals including Reficul and two other angels, one of whom served her anyway out of fear whereas the other one was prepared to stop her if need be.

"Perhaps he might be with that other Goddess…" Grora murmured while thinking about it since it wasn't too difficult imagining Hastur working for Elux. It was just a thought, one she didn't care to entertain despite it being a possibility. Nevertheless she dismissed the topic from her mind. Pondering on Hastur's whereabouts left a bad taste in her mouth, figuratively speaking like eating an unpleasant hamburger inflicted with food poisoning. Maybe she'd think about what to have for dinner instead now that she was thinking of hamburgers thanks to that analogy. "Man, what a way I've got with taking my mind off things," she chuckled and crossed her arms, wondering if she had to bring up the past again by visiting the display case. She might forget about dinner, and that was more important now that she thought about it because it was a much happier topic than True Light.

Nevertheless she'd been approaching it now and figured she'd visit anyway. What was the harm in even looking at them aside from the bad memories? Besides, that wasn't who she was now since these were relics of the past—an unwelcome past of hers she wanted to forget about despite the fact it seemed to be biting her in the ass for whatever reason. Perhaps it was because time was approaching the anniversary of either its founding or downfall; Grora didn't care which. She could mock her former self, the personage of her when she served Hastur, by spitting on the glass which contained the items. Grora smirked at the thought and figured she'd do that before leaving the area after telling other employees nearby that she wanted her spit to stay there as a token moving on. It seemed like a fun idea, and who could've blamed her for wanting to dis herself. She didn't care at all whether she respected her involvement in True Light or not anymore; it was her sin, and she'd repented for it. Now all she wanted to do was cast it aside and move forward, even if it was around.

Yet it appeared Grora wasn't alone because others beat her to the place. She was unaware, not knowing who they were until she arrived and walked over for a closer look at who they were.

Coming up to the castle's historical museum, the angelic woman saw students on a field trip to visit the place. Led by Dahlia, a Pegasus with bright blonde hair in pigtails, it seemed to be an educational outing to teach lessons while examining historical artefacts. Dahlia kept her hands folded in front of her while speaking to them about an old mace from the war. Her red silk blouse had a flower pattern on it like the long lavender colored skirt she wore that also matched the color of her eyes: hazel, like Hastur. The reminder would've made her shudder in anger since she didn't want to think about him, though Grora knew Dahlia's parents since she met them once; they were not at all like that angel as they were pure Pegasi like their daughter. Thankfully she had managed to suppress it in front of the kids so they wouldn't see her get mad, and she was quite lucky to see Froze and her friends among the group as well in addition to little children from the daycare center under the guidance of Ater and Arbus—the cat demons themselves being under Dahlia's guidance so they wouldn't misbehave. The fact they were here meant Grora could hurt Ater—and Arbus too if need be—to relieve the stress of being here even if the kids around here got scared of the attack.

Figuring she might as well participate in the group's tour, Grora made sure to walk towards the back behind Froze and Yosafire, keeping quiet so as not to interrupt Dahlia's lecture. Looking around at the other students, the angelic woman smiled at the sight of several Nephilim kids among the crowd as well and smiled. _"Things sure are different now than they were back then,"_ she made sure to keep the thought to herself out of respect for everyone else. _"Angels and demons together, living in the same world as friends and families…great strides have been made for our people."_ It definitely was a lot better, and thinking back on her involvement with True Light, Grora could see how being part of that group wasn't really worth much because she wouldn't be seeing this union. She would've been contributing to the demise of this harmony had they been successful, so Grora was definitely thankful to be here now so she could experience the benefits and joys of angels and demons sharing a lifestyle of peace. Hearing someone call her name, she snapped back to attention.

"Grora, I was wondering if you had decided to join us," Dahlia commented with a smile as she waved to the angel who returned the gesture. "You've been so silent and haven't answered me when I called on you. Would you like to join us for the last stop on our field trip and help out?"

The angelic woman smiled and nodded. "Sure, I'm game since I happen to know a bit about history. Count me in," she remarked, putting her arms around Yosafire and Froze. "What's left?"

"Just one last display case before we head back to school so the students can get their things to pack up," the Pegasus answered her question. "We'll be showing the students items from angels who still clung onto the traditional ideal of fighting demons as an example of the perspective some people had about the truce Lady Etihw and Lord Kcalb established to bring in peace and harmony."

Ah, so they were going to be listening to her speak about True Light. Although she smiled because she didn't want to make the students and little children uncomfortable, Grora felt bitter in the sense that it was going to be uncomfortable for her since Dahlia would be discussing the group, their ideology, and their methods. While she was a primary source of information considering the fact she was involved with them, the angelic lady believed it probably wasn't a good idea to speak about True Light in front of them. Still, she made her peace regarding her old sin which explained why she decided to just come out and face her inner demons about Hastur and True Light by going over them. After all, talking about one's problems was a good way of facing them head on. If they wanted to know about True Light, she'd tell them about the organization and share her role in it.

"Certainly, I'll be glad to help," Grora commented, prepared to relate what she knew.

"Excellent, come right this way, everyone!" Dahlia declared to the large group as they each followed her lead with the kitties at the Pegasus' sides and their own entourage of children walking behind them, just in front of the older students. While they walked, Grora stepped in between Froze and Yosafire to say hello to them and the other girls who were present. Only Rawberry was absent because she had gone to her part time job at The Auburn Tulip to help her older sister and Crona.

"Hey, girls, how are things going?" she asked them to make conversation as they sauntered to the final display case. "School's going alright? You're enjoying today's field trip, right, girls?"

"You bet, Miss Grora!" Yosafire piped up and wrapped an arm around the angel's shoulder.

"Indeed," Dialo agreed. "It is certainly quite informative by showing these things up close instead of looking at the pictures in textbooks about such subjects." Chelan hummed to concur.

"It's all so very impressive!" Macarona exclaimed quietly, closing her eyes and smiling to express how grateful and excited she was being here in a place she could relate to, seeing as how she worked in Clarabella's Museum of Arts and Crafts as the night guard who helped solve that conspiracy. She really did deserve much of the credit for that, and so did Crona and Flavio. "I truly love history! It's interesting how so much can be learned from a past that helps shapes our world."

"I'm betting it's your favorite subject in school, Macarona," Grora said as the young angel nodded to answer the rhetorical inquiry before Froze posed two questions to the older angel.

"What brings you here, Miss Grora? Aren't you busy with work by patrolling the borders?"

"My shift ended, I'm on a break; I thought I'd take a stroll here," Grora answered her and smiled sweetly at the young angel. "And stop referring to me by a proper formality when the two of us are together, Froze; a first name basis is just fine, you know. I did help raise you, after all."

Froze smiled, accepting the older angel's embrace and wrapping an arm around her. "Sure, of course, Grora," she remarked, glad her foster mother had run into them here for a brief visit.

"Aw, you both look just so cute together!" Yosafire chuckled to make her best friend blush in embarrassment slightly while she lightly hit the demon's arm to make her stop. "Oh, sorry."

"It's fine, Yosafire, she just gets a little flustered in that regard," Grora briefly explained.

"Okay, gather round, everyone!" Dahlia raised her voice to call out so the students and the children could quiet down as Ater and Arbus both clapped their hands together and spoke up.

"Yes, yes, inside voices settle down!" they chirped, beaming happily while addressing the large crowd so the Pegasus could begin the final part of her lecture before the field trip was over.

"Thank you, girls," Dahlia remarked to the cat demons and pat them on their heads to show her appreciation and then addressed the kids. "Now, who can tell me the name of the group who've used these artefacts here? Those of you who are my students may feel free to partner up with some of the children to help them out since you did learn about this organization in yesterday's lesson." She grinned and shut her eyes, glad that her students were eagerly following that instruction.

"Oh, I know this one! It was that group from this region," Yosafire murmured quietly since she didn't want to spoil the answer for anyone else because she'd already given answers before as they were making their way here. That was why she decided to remain silent this time. "You recall learning about them yesterday, right Froze?" she asked her best friend to check if she did know it.

"Yes, Yosaf, we were the pair who focused specifically on that group," the angel mentioned in a deadpanned stare at the demon, not even bothering to facepalm because it wasn't needed. The fact their nonchalant attitude toward True Light made Grora chuckle somewhat because it felt good knowing the organization was a relic of the past like these relics in the display case in front of the whole crowd. To be fair, it wasn't entirely unpleasant because of friendships she shared with some of the other members who were also taken in by Hastur's lies like her, but he alone was the reason why she wanted to leave that horrible order behind for good and not look back. In fact, he was the only reason, the sole motive for her seeking to bury True Light beneath the ashes of an old decade.

Opening her eye and looking down at one of the little Nephilim children in front of the two girls, Grora realized this girl didn't have a partner of her own. With a small smile, she stepped past Froze and Yosafire to kneel down beside her. "Hey there, little one, need some help?" she inquired, accidently startling the child because this girl seemed to be shy. However, the Nephilim girl made sure to nod honestly even if it wasn't without timidity. Still smiling to set her at ease, Grora placed both hands on the girl and leaned her head forward to whisper in her ear. "True Light's the answer."

Swallowing heavily and nodding again as a gesture of thanks, the girl turned around so she could nervously raise her hand. Although it wasn't high enough to really be seen, Grora made sure to provide more help by holding the Nephilim's arm up a little higher so Dahlia could point at the child who spoke up in a stuttered tone of voice. "U-um…T-True L-Light, ma'am. I-is it…r-right?"

Dahlia smiled reassuringly and nodded to confirm the child's answer as correct. "Yes it is, and please be sure to thank Miss Grora for being such a helpful partner. She knows this quite well."

"She already did," the angelic woman spoke up, gently ruffling the Nephilim's hair before standing up straight to walk forward and lean against the wall by the Pegasus teacher. Arms crossed in front of her chest, Grora smiled as she looked around at the crowd to address them all. "Besides, you've certainly done a great job teaching these students of yours good teamwork with others. I'm impressed with how cooperative they all are," she said to compliment the teacher and her students.

"Thanks, I'm sure they appreciate your high regards as well, Miss Grora. Since you appear to be familiar with this topic, why don't you answer some questions they might have about it."

While Grora wasn't exactly comfortable with this, she couldn't just say no since it felt good to relate her story with everyone here. Although some of the younger children might fear her since she was even willing to name herself as one of the conspirators in True Light, the angel would not simply exclude her name from the affair. They had to know and would eventually learn about it at some point, even if some of the high school students here knew of her involvement already. "Sure."

"Good, thank you for the aid, Miss Grora," Dahlia remarked and turned to the group. "Now then, does anybody have any questions for Miss Grora? Feel free to ask her anything regarding the organization known as True Light." Despite having instructed them to pose any questions, Dahlia turned back to Grora and stepped closer to her for a quiet word in private. "If they ask about your membership in True Light, I'd like to ask that you keep that private for the children because it may scare them with the thought that you were once involved with those murders back then, okay?"

"Sorry, Dahlia, but I can't just do that when they want to also know about True Light's fall from grace," the angelic lady explained briefly. "I want them to know the truth so they won't feel scared of me when I say that I was the one who turned them all in. They'll find out at some point later on in their lives and could mistrust me for not telling them now, hence why I have to say it."

Despite the fact Dahlia was still uncomfortable with that decision for the sake of these kids, she nevertheless consented to the choice and stood by as questions came up, allowing her to speak.

"What were they like?" one inquisitive student asked.

"They were all a bunch of traditionalist angels who believed in the old ways of fighting our enemies, the demons from the war. True Light's objective was to defeat demons and Fallen Angels, angels who were considered to have fallen from heaven," Grora explained to him. "We don't have a heaven or an underworld anymore, but True Light still clung to that notion and believed they had to open everyone's eyes to the truth of that matter by exposing the demons as liars seeking power."

"How did they go about making their objective happen?" a small child with good language skills inquired, impressing Grora with her usage of the vocabulary she used for the question.

"They basically used guerilla tactics against civilians and had spies all over the place. They were in and around Gray Village and Blancblack Castle, using a small force of over twenty angels to successfully hide among the larger majority. The fact they had been a minority was an advantage for them, and they utilized it while trying to trick the authorities and other possible groups to fight amongst each other so they could fulfill their goals with everyone else unaware of their presence."

"What happened to them?" a third member of the crowd asked.

"They were betrayed by someone from within their organization, the second-in-command," Grora answered. "Afterwards, some of them refused to surrender and fought the authorities before being defeated in battle since they would only accept honorable defeats. Others realized there was no choice but to surrender and make peace, though they were all defeated by Hastur, their leader."

"Who was Hastur?"

"Basically an angel who sought power for himself and used others to achieve his goal. His plan was to become a God and defeat other deities as they hardly wiped out demons in their worlds. Hastur planned on changing that the hard way because he wanted to exterminate demons and make a pure existence without evil. However, he despised those who were weak and cowardly, claiming they deserved death as punishment since they wouldn't join his cause. He made every use of fear tactics to ensure any who followed him were bound by an unwilling slavery to him, but those most committed to the cause were considered pure in his eyes. He had great respect only for those who believed in him and considered such individuals as better than others despite still using them. It is ironic how the man who spoke so highly of his closest allies actually thought little of them in fact."

The fact she was being very open about this did not surprise Grora in the slightest, but her tone of voice when relaying this information to the crowd was slightly melancholic. Although she didn't like that organization anymore and despised it with every fiber of her being, the angelic lady realized that bringing up old memories—regardless of the fact she didn't want to hide them—was making her nostalgic. Reminiscing about old times, the fun she had with the other members as the group had been her friends once, always turned into an inward beating unto herself. Grora was not perfect—nobody was—but the fact remained that she had committed an awful sin by having been a member of True Light, the dreadful organization that terrorized this region. As difficult as it was to deal with it, she had made peace with her actions and was forgiven for them as time went on.

"Who was the second-in-command?"

"What was that angel like?"

"Why did the second-in-command betray them?"

Grora smiled and chuckled, closing her eye because she found it funny this anti-hero's new perspective and change of ideals was appealing to the students and little children alike. Well, to be fair, she was sort of an anti-heroine in that regard because of her gender, hence the technicality on that matter. Nonetheless, Grora had fallen in order to rise, the reason why being because she needed to fall in order to pick herself up. Once she successfully accomplished that, she became better than some members of True Light who refused to give up their traditions while maintaining equality to fallen members murdered by Hastur's hands following her betrayal of him and the organization.

"The second-in-command was someone who'd accepted his lies and believed them at first until one assignment began to open her eyes to the truth. Once she saw everything and realized the crimes she was committing with the organization were nothing more than atrocities, this lady knew what she had to do. And so, she turned herself in after being betrayed by the leader she respected. She gave up information to the authorities on each and every single other member, leading to their defeat and the fall of True Light. That answers the third question; to answer the second, she was a real hotheaded individual who got along with everybody and admired Hastur until she left them."

"But who was she?"

Grora couldn't help but keep smiling as she wondered how to phrase her response. Wording it in a simplified statement was easy, especially since she was willing to reveal herself as Hastur's second-in-command. However, she wanted to tone down the shock value of her answer so she did not scare them because she didn't want to. These were little children and students who might think of her as a monster, and rightfully so considering her participation in the organization's activities. That was why she figured three simple words alone would convey the point to them. Although the three words would surprise them, hopefully they wouldn't be as shocked by the big reveal. Taking a deep breath and shutting her eye momentarily, Grora then opened it and spoke. "I was her." That was certainly a big reveal however small it was, and the words garnered a surprised reaction from everyone else except for Dahlia and Froze because the two of them already knew about her past.

Letting the revelation sink in for a bit as she watched how they handled the news, the angel noticed how there were two different categories of reactions from the crowd—three if Dahlia and Froze could be counted as a third due to their calm, collected natures in regards to the matter. She watched the high school students' eyes widen in surprise as they gasped, though it seemed they've taken it rather well due to their schooling and acceptance of others because of this's world values. Unfortunately, as she had expected despite hoping it wouldn't happen, her statement scared all the little children into hiding behind the students for protection with Ater and Arbus silently sauntering over to help defend them. However, the cat demons were just as surprised as everyone else was.

"W-wait, you were the second-in-command of True Light?!" Macarona asked, voicing the one question that apparently was on everybody's mind when Grora gently broke the news to them.

Grora nodded. "Yep, the former second-in-command who gave up her life in that order for something that truly mattered more than our old culture and the man who fought to return it to us."

"So let me get this straight, Miss Grora," Dialo spoke up to try and better understand what the angelic woman was saying. "You served in an organization that murdered innocent people, the angels and demons in our world, over wanting to reestablish the hatred between our people?"

"Y-your name wasn't even mentioned in our textbooks, right Froze?!" Yosafire exclaimed and turned to her best friend for a confirmation of that which the young angel blandly provided.

"As a matter of fact, they did not reference her," Froze conceded the argument, though continued to speak on behalf of Grora to defend her. "Had I not known that about that, I would've been surprised like everyone else here. She told me about it herself a few times, so I can understand where she's coming from based on how she related the information to me and why she chose to."

"Yeah, I've had a pretty bad past and all," Grora shrugged, closing her eye while admitting it further with a small smile. "I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of, committed crimes against our people all for the sake of a tradition our people have made the effort to move away from. I just didn't see it until after I've spilled my fair share of blood. That was decades ago, and now I merely want to live my life in this peaceful world without regrets. I could care less if others knew my past seeing as how I've put it all behind me and never want to look back. Sure, our world advocates for holding onto bad memories as an anchor so that we'll know the horrors our people have committed in the past, but I'd rather not think about it in my case regarding True Light. It's just bad memories, stuff I want to forget about by throwing away the trash and discarding it all for good forever."

"But you don't hate demons anymore, right?" Macarona asked and stood protectively since she didn't want the older angel to hurt the demonic children and the cat demons hiding behind her.

"Nope, not anymore—except for Ater; yes, I'm looking at you, you little mongrel." While Grora made sure to tell the truth honestly to try and set everyone at ease, she couldn't help but see Ater cowering amongst the crowd. She cast a cold, hard glare at the cat demon and her twin sister, not even bothering to conceal the insult which could've also been considered a threat in her speech. "After what I've been through, all the horrible things I did, I realize now that it was foolish of me. I was a fool for trying to reinsert old ways back into our society when it already moved on from a culture it no longer wanted or needed, and for also believing in a fallen hero who fought for it."

Dahlia sighed, averting her attention to the angelic woman with a frown. "I was hoping the revelation of yours wouldn't come at least until they were older because of this. Was it worth this?"

"To be perfectly honest, Dahlia, it wasn't; no argument there," Grora agreed with her about that point. "Even so, it's better they hear about it now rather than later like I said. I put in so much effort just to try and regain everybody's trust by lying to them about my involvement in True Light, and I don't want the same thing to happen again. I'd rather come clean and confess it to anyone to get this off my chest instead of purposely concealing it until it's revealed at a point when I may be considered untrustworthy by future generations." She sighed, stretching her arms behind her head and crossing them there. "I don't know why your students' textbooks don't allude to me as the one who betrayed my old group, but I'll put in a word at the publishing department to include it in the next editions. It doesn't matter to me anymore seeing as how it's all in the past—a past all students are required to learn about in order to teach them about preferring peace as opposed to fighting."

"I cannot deny the truth of what you say," the Pegasus consented to the debate. "However, do know a lot of the kids here you just addressed with that knowledge are still in daycare. They'll fear you now to some degree because of it, if not by an entire extent. They're still young, Grora."

"I know, but I'm taking the risk by being honest with them upfront. Whether they chose to fear and distrust me is up to them to decide. I don't want to force them to determine if I'm worthy of their trust or not. If they choose not to, I'm fine with that and can understand why; if they are in fact willing to place their faith in me, I'm glad to have been honest with them. After all, honesty's a strongly positive trait in the Gray Garden, one everybody—including my present self—favors."

"True, but if you're that sure of your decision—" Dahlia went on before Grora interjected.

"I already am," the angel replied with a warm smile and looked at the children. Some were still hiding behind the high school students, though others had begun to trickle through back toward the front since they were feeling brave enough to put faith in her. "Sorry if what I said scared you all. The truth's unpleasant, I know, but necessary in my opinion. All we have to is consider it when analyzing the past and making progress by moving forward in our lives to live harmoniously. The days when angels and demons fought each other are over, and we never want them to come back."

"Though I still slightly disapprove of her revelation to you all," Dahlia added to speak with them too, "there is definitely plenty of truth to Miss Grora's words. Yes, angels and demons were opponents in the past because that was how things were. This knowledge may come as a shock to those of you who are still too young to learn about the history of both our world and our people, a dark truth everybody wants to leave behind in favor of peace and harmony. The union between the demons and angels in this world is unique in that we have made attempts to strengthen it and have succeeded, thereby achieving a significant milestone for both peoples alike. Not all worlds are like ours because many are still in constant strife in which angels and demons war against each other."

"Indeed, and although we commercially trade with other worlds, our world has agreed to not enter military conflicts because we still desire peace," Grora added to the explanation. "We'll remain neutral to them except for trade, but we do allow visitors from other worlds to arrive if the foreign tourists happen to be friendly. Ivlis' invasion last year wasn't, but he'll never come back."

"Considering how Miss Grora was a primary source who has explained what we must know about True Light from personal experience, I would say this concludes this lecture about this final exhibit," Dahlia went on to end the tour and turned to bow her head towards the angelic woman as thanks for the explanation. "You have my thanks and the gratitude of our entourage, Miss Grora."

"Thank you very much, Miss Grora!" everyone else repeated their own thanks in tune with that statement, even if the wording some of them used was different from the general sentence. As some of them began to step forward and take a closer look at the artefacts from True Light, Grora spoke up again to show she appreciated giving everybody a chance to learn about the order directly from her. As she did so, a couple of attendants from the daycare center, having completed an errand they had to run on an upper floor, returned to collect the children and speak with the cat demons.

"You're all very welcome, it means a lot to me getting this matter off my chest." With that said, she watched Dahlia collect her own students and gather them all up in another group to head out and go back to school. Smiling softly, she approached Froze and her friends to chat with them for a bit before they left. "So what did you girls think of the tour? Was my shocking reveal stunning to you?" she asked, thinking about joining them for a bit longer since she had time. Then again, it would've been a shame to her for having come all this way just to leave these relics behind without giving them a piece of her mind. That was why she opted to follow them once she concluded that.

"I'll say," Yosafire commented, still surprised at how tainted Grora's past had been. "I had never thought you would've worked with radical traditionalists who fought for the older values."

"Well, what can I say aside from confessing my participation in their activities?" the angel inquired rhetorically, closing her eye briefly and shrugging her shoulders. "Hastur really had all of us fooled into believing it was possible to reintegrate the conflict back into our world. Although a number of his followers, myself included, believed in him because we didn't trust the demons and other angels who believed in them, it's ironic how the one demon who tricked us all manned True Light to advocate his cause for himself. We were nothing more than scapegoats he could discard."

"That sounds awful," Macarona remarked to show her sympathy. "It must've been difficult dealing with his sudden betrayal of you all for his own sake. Thankfully you realized it before his plans could've come to fruition. Had that happened, we might not even be here as good friends."

"True, though I'd say I was still a little too late; lots of innocent people died, some of them by my own hands," the older angel went on to admit despite having already alluded to that part.

"Thankfully that's all in the past now, Miss Grora," Dialo displayed a small smile as Chelan hummed in agreement with her, also showing support to Grora. "You shouldn't think of it now."

"You're right, I shouldn't, but I can't change what happened back then. All I can do is look to the future and move on to get away from it. It's pretty much the only solution to solve the issue."

"You have a point, Grora," Froze spoke up to briefly continue the conversation before they left. "In any case, they're gone and you're all that remains of True Light. I certainly hope nothing else from your past pops up to bring you down again." Hearing their teacher call them over, Froze turned back to Grora and waved goodbye to her with her friends before leaving. "See you later."

Grora smiled back at her and waved too. "Yep, see you soon." It certainly would be sooner than later since she would head over to the school and pick the girls up for a stroll if they were up for it. Then again, they might've had extracurricular clubs to go to; though the angelic lady would play it by ear and go to the school anyway to inquire if any of the girls were available. Nevertheless, she certainly did hope Hastur was dead somewhere and she didn't care to see him again. With him gone for good, Grora could finally be at peace definitively knowing he was vanquished. As it was, the only things left—which she didn't mind because they were simply relics—were old relics True Light used back in the days it used to be a functioning organization with few members involved.

Ambling back over to those, she peered through the glass at all the badges, weapons, armor, notes, and documents utilized by the group. Sighing while reminiscing about the past, Grora stood in front of them and frowned somberly. She didn't miss the old days, but she couldn't shake a dark feeling that they were coming back to haunt her in some way. Crossing her arms as a chill traveled down her spine—more out of anger and disgust at herself and True Light—the angel hadn't noticed she wasn't alone until she caught Ater and Arbus gazing at the artefacts with her. "You girls must think I'm some kind of murderous monster, do you?" she asked, annoyed they were even there.

"No, not at all," Ater murmured and made eye contact with her while she and Arbus smiled.

"Not at all, no," Arbus parroted in their mannerism as an angel from this department arrived to check on the items, catching sight of Grora with the cat demons and getting ready to intervene.

"So, despite everything I've related about my past in addition to those beatings I give both of you—especially you, Ater—neither of you think any less of me? You understand my problem?"

"Yep!" the kitties beamed happily, placing their trust in Grora because they did understand where she was coming from, even if their faith may have seemed a bit misguided to in her opinion. That was why Grora seized Ater's head and dashed it into the glass, shattering it and harming Ater because the blow caused pain via the strike breaking the glass into shards that cut her face as well.

"Good, so understand that I will always hate you both—mostly you, Ater," Grora scoffed, turning to the display case with Ater's head still in it and spitting on both her and the artefacts. As the other angel came over to help the cat demons, she whirled around and stormed away. "If you're going to be so blind as to trust me in spite of the necessary punishment, you might as well display yourselves as additional artefacts I can hate. You girls would be better off stuffed as trophies."

"This is coming out of your paycheck, Grora," the angel called after her once he had healed Ater's wounds and gently pat her on the head to give her some comfort. Yet Grora scoffed again.

"Whatever, prosecute or fire me. Like hell I'd care about them."

…

 **It just wouldn't be in her character without harming Ater to some extent, though this chapter does help shape Grora's character a bit more. I've looked to logic from Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins movie when going over how her fall from True Light helped her rise. The line about Bruce's father and Alfred asking Bruce why people fall was one of my favorite lines from that movie, and I feel it definitely fits in with who Grora was and currently is.**

 **As for Hastur, we see what I've alluded to already being reiterated. This time it's for the purpose of educating the students and children on who he was and what True Light was like. Although I haven't gone over what they are like, I kind of see Hastur and True Light as similar to the Forsworn and Stormcloaks from the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Both groups did fight for a cause they believed in, hence why I'm basing True Light on them because they've been dedicated to their respective causes: Forsworn are Bretons seeking to reclaim the Reach and Markarth because the region was their old home until the Nords drove them out; while the Stormcloaks are Nords who rebelled against the Empire because the Empire forbid them from worshipping Talos as a deified Divine among other reasons. I can respect these groups for believing in their cause; however, I believe Hastur is similar to Ulfric Stormcloak because the two of them really do feel very alike in my personal opinion. Bear in mind I've nothing against the Stormcloaks themselves since my only issue with their side in Skyrim's Civil War is Ulfric Stormcloak himself. I don't believe Ulfric is really telling his followers the full truth as to why he is fighting against the Empire and the Aldmeri Dominion governed by Thalmor.**

 **Regarding the Nephilim, whom I've alluded to in the first chapter, but haven't talked about in the author's notes then, they are included to demonstrate how far the Gray Garden came with its peaceful movement. While they are found in a number of other universes, plus stemming from biblical origins as well, the Nephilim I thought about when incorporating the beings into this story (and future stories as well whenever I can mention them) were from an interesting dark fantasy universe called Diablo. I played Diablo II for a bit and I've also read several of the novels and a couple other books about the series, so I know a bit about it. One interesting tidbit about the spelling of Nephilim in this series is that it's spelled Nephalem.**

 **In Diablo, Nephilim are born from a union between angels and demons; however, the lore emphasizes an angel named Inarius, Tyrael's brother, and Lilith, daughter of Mephisto and sister of Lucion as influential in that regard. The two of them got married and together with their respective followers who joined them by abandoning their respective sides in the conflict between angels and demons, they produced a world known as Sanctuary for their children. However, Inarius and Lilith fought among themselves which led to Lilith's exile from Sanctuary and Inarius' choice to weaken the Nephilim so other angels and demons wouldn't notice their existence. Yet he too had fallen since the Angiris Council of the angels worked with Mephisto to capture him so Mephisto could torture him.**

 **You can find more information about this stuff on Wikipedia and Wikias for Diablo and Elder Scrolls (which also has the UESP, abbreviated for Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages).**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Batman Begins; it is owned by Christopher Nolan. I do not own Elder Scrolls; it's owned by Bethesda. I don't own Diablo; it's owned by Blizzard North.**


	5. Chapter Five: Spending Time with Froze

The sound of the phone she was calling rang through her own cellphone as she walked over to the lobby after exiting the stairwell. It had only been minutes since she left the kitty duo and the other angel in the museum after smashing Ater's face into a display case of relics from True Light. While an incident like that normally led to her being summoned by Etihw and Kcalb, Grora had other plans which was why she decided to contact the former by phone rather than converse with the Goddess in person this time. Having scrolled through a list of contacts stored in her cellphone, the angelic lady located Etihw's and pressed the call button, holding the device to her ear to speak through it. It took several rings, but eventually she got an answer from the Goddess whose schedule was so booked she couldn't even find time for breaks. "Hello, this is Etihw, the Goddess speaking. May I ask who is calling and what for?" she asked. This sudden break wasn't surprising to them.

"Hey, Lady Etihw," Grora greeted her and strolled into the lobby, waving to employees on her way out of the castle. "Who do you think it is? I suppose you've heard of my recent exploit."

"That I have, Grora," the Goddess answered her in a stern voice that made the angel ponder if Etihw was actually deadpanning with a cold glare in her eyes. "What have Kcalb and I told you before and numorous times prior to our last meeting on this? You are not to harm those girls simply to get back at them over an accident that happened decades ago. This is the second incident in two days, Grora; are you really planning on making this show of behavior into a daily routine?"

"Nah, but look, Lady Etihw, it was in the heat of the moment. Ater was just begging for it. I had to do it," Grora briefly rationalized her response, not caring for its quality. "You should have seen it, the bitch and her twin were practically blind to the whole subject. You understand, right?"

"I understand that your anger management is poor around them," Etihw spat out on her end of the connection. "You talk about them being blind, yet it is really you who've still grappled with it. Although I'm thankful you hadn't done it in front of the students and children, your latest attack shall be added to your personal record, Grora. Need I remind you of the lessons you learned, how friendship is more important than conflict? You may accept other demons, but learn to tolerate the kitties even if you don't want to like them because I certainly won't tolerate your abuse of them."

Grora sighed, stretching her free arm behind her head and resting it there as she ambled out through the front entrance. "Whatever, though it still doesn't change the fact I hate them—mostly Ater, as everybody including you and I know quite well already. We may have already established that point time and time again, but I'll not stop reiterating it. You know me, Lady Etihw; when I have a point to make, I ensure it's set in stone and hammered in well enough to get it across."

"Just as we would continue to hammer our point further as well," the Goddess countered.

"Fine, sure, sure."

"Now if there a reason why you're calling instead of directly confronting me about it? Bear in mind I was going to call you anyway to summon you up here instead to discuss this issue you've got with Ater and Arbus yet again. Mind explaining why you're shirking that when you are already aware of the fact?" Etihw demanded, her curt tone resonating through the phone's connection.

"I saw Froze and her friends today and figured I'd pick them up from school," Grora said.

"They're old enough to walk home on their own without a guardian, Grora. You're needed in the garden and on patrol. Unless you're on a break from both responsibilities, fine; otherwise it is crucial that you help protect our people by making sure no suspicious persons are around. Need I remind you that we don't want other incidents to happen? We already survived three recent ones."

Although Etihw's argument made sense and the angel didn't deny it or argue against it, she nevertheless clarified the details of her motive for the Goddess. "Yes, I'm on break, so I have time to hang out with them for a bit until the next patrol I'm to go on. Besides, Ivlis isn't going to invade our world again, and the animatronics from Clarabella's Museum of Arts and Crafts were already taken care of." Saying that reminded her of Robin, causing a tear to flow down her cheek as it had formed in her eye. Yet Grora managed to recollect her composure and wiped it away to be happy. Robin wouldn't have wanted her to be sad. In any case, she did bring up two other individuals who had caused other problems for their world, particularly in this region. "However, it is true we must still be on guard against Soa and whoever else her allies may be. Hastur may be gone, though I do hope he's dead so we don't have to worry about him any longer. He'd better not show up here."

She had a point, one that was validated by the fact that no clues pertaining to what became of them were present or even existed. Raspbel's doppelganger hadn't been caught, and the demon's reluctance to speak about the matter even in therapy hadn't made progress because she wasn't even willing to go that far. The authorities suspected she had somehow fallen in that large abyss within Moreisineum and took Soa with her, but their theory couldn't be proven without her testimony. As she was terrified of what they put her through before, they decided not to push her and let Mayumi Lingsley handle the case. Progress was slim, especially because Raspbel was recently diagnosed with delusional parasitosis which she never had before. Although Rawberry always went with her to see the therapist, Raspbel would get tense out of fear whenever the topic of those Great Elders was brought up, especially the six headed wormlike one that appeared to be crucial to that matter because of Macarona's testimony about how Soa seemed to favor that one and call it her master.

Hastur, on the other hand…

"Yes, I know, Grora, we still haven't determined what happened to Soa and where she may be. We don't even have any clues as to her whereabouts despite the theory that she might still live down in Moreisineum and that abyss below it," Etihw concurred with the angel's concern because that doppelganger really had been problematic due to having killed several people. Even so, Etihw could not understand why Grora was bringing up the other issue regarding Hastur. "I too hope that guy is gone for good, but why bring him up, Grora? You know Hastur hasn't been seen since you last fought him and lost prior to his escape after receiving nasty wounds from Kcalb and Wodahs."

Grora shrugged, stopping at the warp slate because she knew phone calls could disconnect when teleporting to one place from another via warp slates. "I don't really know to be honest since I've only just been thinking about him and my past with True Light quite recently. I suppose you'll probably consider whether it's the anniversary of their founding or fall; whichever the case, I don't care about them any longer. I've no idea why they matter to me so much now after having already cut all my ties to them, but I guess they'll still haunt me forever or so, so long as I'm alive that is."

That was a grim thought in her opinion, one she recognized and had to deal with carefully.

Upon hearing the angel's reasoning behind her thinking in that response, Etihw toned down her irritation with Grora and went with a calmer tone instead since she understood the issue. Even so, she planned on using it as a means of teaching her subordinate the meaning of friendship. "Yes, I can understand the passage of time could contribute to one's thoughts on something of that nature considering it is actually approaching both anniversaries. As I recall, True Light was disbanded as it fell on the same day it was established just a year prior to its disintegration. The event was such a problem for our people, yet it quelled other forms of resentment, rebellion, and segregation once news broke out that Hastur made his own force into a bunch of scapegoats. You might say it caused more benefit than harm, but the damage was still felt in this world either way until all was better. That was a tough case for everyone involved, especially you as I know how hard it's been for you."

"And since then, we haven't had any trouble aside from the problems that arose last year," Grora went on, unable to shake the feeling that more trouble was coming their way. "I don't know about you, Lady Etihw, but I think our world is in for additional issues like those. It's just a feeling I've got, but I can't shake it now that my mind's on Hastur. We don't know what happened to him, just as we don't know what became of Soa. They might still attack us if they're still alive, right?"

"Indeed, but—"

"No buts, please, Lady Etihw, I'm serious about this and I know you're worried too. We've got to have confirmation on their fates and determine if other forces out there really do plan to put their own two cents in about the Gray Garden by force. I'm sure you can read between lines in the letters you receive from other deities, so you'd probably know what I'm getting at by this remark."

"True," the Goddess conceded, agreeing that Grora was making good sense of the situation. After all, the angelic lady was one of their best captains and a skilled combatant to boot. Regardless of whether she liked the woman taking a superior stance in that last bit of dialogue or not, Etihw's mind was on the same matter all the same. "It is indeed possible for him to be working with another deity under the pretext of helping him or her. The same goes for Soa as well since we have warned other Devils about her and requested they do not aid her and whoever she might be allied with. It's unlikely for them to not serve others as a means of possibly attacking us like with Soa for instance. Although we must remain vigilant of their presence and any force allied with them, we cannot take action against others because we must preserve peace and put our faith in other worlds. While they do provide us with assurances not to—and you're right we must be ever wary due to incidents like Ivlis' attack—we will not act unless and until foreign worlds make the first move to attack us."

"We can at least defend ourselves," the angel said. "A good offense is a good defense."

"True, that much we can do and we strongly encourage diplomacy over violence with quite good defense should others take the initiative to attack us. Our first priority is peace and protection of others from a neutral standpoint. I'm well aware you're familiar with that point, Grora, but how will you react and act if you find yourself facing down Hastur again? Will you let anger cloud your emotions and judgment by determining that whatever he or anyone else did in the past must be an offense to be corrected through force alone? Bear in mind that I want you to weigh this carefully."

"Yeah, I've got it. Still, it can't hurt to take him down to end my misery and bad memories."

Etihw sighed, feeling as if she wasn't getting through to this lady at all. Perhaps her lesson was completely going over Grora's head and in one ear only to go out the other. "I understand you despise the man, Grora, but like I said, don't let anger control you. I'm saying this not just because I worry you'll go over the edge and disregard it all for the sake of discarding your memories of the time in True Light, but also because you already are letting it obscure your perspective of Ater and Arbus. While I'm glad you befriended other demons, I'm disappointed and upset that you will not let go of an accident they didn't mean to cause regardless of which of them caused it. Understand?"

Grora also sighed, figuring the Goddess was trying to tie some moral lesson into this matter by relating her hatred of Hastur to her hatred of Ater—and Arbus to some extent too. The Goddess was right about handling problems calmly and forgiving others, but in the angel's mind those ideas were two different things when pertaining to her old boss and the cat demons. "Whatever, fine, I'll be careful around Hastur if he shows his ugly mug around here ever again. Just don't expect me to stop punishing those girls however I see fit whenever I feel like dealing it to them." Her words had made Etihw deadpan and facepalm with another sigh over the phone, so Grora believed it was time to end the phone call before she pissed off Etihw any further. "Sorry, but I've got to go now."

"Fine, but just answer one last question for me, Grora. Why'd you go to our museum? Did you want to revisit your past by reminiscing about bad memories? If so, you would've stayed away from the items from True Light." Technically it was two questions. Grora knew it was one inquiry altogether—not that she would bring up that pointless technicality because it didn't really matter.

"Yeah, kind of," she replied, shrugging her shoulders. "Basically I wanted to give my past self, the organization I used to belong to, and our leader a piece of my mind. Spitting on them sure seemed like a good way of doing that, and I got to hurt Ater to boot. Two birds, one stone." There was a small smile on her face when she said that, and Etihw imagined it certainly conveyed Grora's cheer over the incident. "Overall, things went much better than I originally expected them to. Also, could you do me a favor and tell the publishing department to include my name in future editions of the history textbooks the school uses? I want to make sure my involvement in True Light could be related to others since I'd rather not hide the truth about it from them. They deserve to know."

"As reluctant as I am to follow through on that request for your sake, Grora, I will. Do not forget what I'm talking about as well," Etihw remarked before hanging up. "Behave yourself. I've got a hell of a workload as it is already; I don't need you adding more onto it by hurting the kitties."

"Yes, Mom," Grora ended the call on a sarcastic note, but still conveyed she comprehended these matters even if she was reluctant to accept Ater's apology and tolerate her and Arbus.

"Just behave yourself, Grora," the Goddess repeated over the phone in a sour tone of voice and hung up without saying goodbye. However, it wasn't needed because Grora understood Etihw was a little stressed out from doing so much work she purposely avoided before that camera Kcalb and Wodahs installed prevented her from escaping such duties and responsibilities ever again.

With their conversation over, the angel closed her cellphone and put it in her pocket before stretching her arms up in the air. Silently activating the warp slate by selecting Gray Village as her destination, Grora confirmed the choice and was immediately teleported to the warp slate there. It had been a short amount of time since she left the museum to tag after Froze and the others, so the possibility of them having left already was still a likely scenario. Nevertheless she strolled through the residential district over to the school, passing by general individuals on their own walks.

The crisp, afternoon breeze blew gently across her hair, allowing her pigtails to sway back and forth while she walked down the sidewalk and crossed through the market district. Coming up to The Auburn Tulip, Grora turned her head and caught sight of Rawberry with her older sister as the two of them were busy watering flowers and organizing them on shelves. Crona must've been somewhere in the backroom, seeding the soil in pots or checking the soil quality. Thinking on how long it must've been since the end of Project Dynol Peiriant in the conspiracy named after it, Grora wondered how Flavio and his niece were doing since she last saw them months ago when it still made headlines thanks to Macarona's involvement. She'd also think about Rawberry and Raspbel at times whenever she stopped by for flowers and seeds to use in the castle's garden, pondering on how the older demon was handling life following an ordeal of: ghouls, her doppelganger, eldritch horrors, and family problems. In addition were psychological and emotional issues which plagued Raspbel as a result of the issues she'd dealt with then. Those two incidents took place in the same year as the invasion, but after it; of the three, only the Doppelganger Murders was the worst issue.

Although she hadn't seen Crona there before, Grora figured Macarona had helped her find a new job and suggested the older girl try this place. The presence of all three demons tending their merchandise was a peaceful sight, one everybody enjoyed when they visited the shop to purchase flowers and pay their respects to a little shrine constructed as homage to Ruby and Serenity. They had been excellent members of the store's small staff and amazing friends to Raspbel, so they both would be dearly missed by their families and friends alike. While Grora thought about stopping in just to say hello, she figured she'd come back another time since she planned on taking a stroll by the meadow with the other girls Rawberry was friends with. An idea occurred to her that she could enter for a few moments and chat while on the way there, but perhaps it was better to let the three demonic girls close up shop for the day as a break from having to work all day. Raspbel certainly needed one due to all the psychological stress she was still experiencing, and it might've been the day for her appointment with Mayumi to try and recover from it. Thankfully Rawberry was always by her side in that endeavor, taking better care of her big sister even if she wasn't always there due to school taking up half of her weekdays nowadays. Both aspects of her life were quite important.

Having caught sight of her as Crona exited the backroom and also noticed Grora, the three of them all waved at her through the window while the angel smiled warmly and returned the nice gesture. Resuming her pace and crossing the street to go down an avenue towards the school which overlooked a nice pasture and the coastal beach behind it at the water's edge, the angelic lady came up to the building itself and ambled through the gate. Keeping her hands in her pockets as a casual gesture, she approached the establishment and found a number of students walking out. Within the small crowd of those who remained by the entrance was Froze with Dialo and Chelan. Their other friends, Yosafire and Macarona, were not present possibly due to being in an afterschool club they were members of. It was too bad those two had to miss out on the stroll, but Grora wished Yosafire and Macarona well in their club even though she couldn't tell that to them herself. Nevertheless, a few girls from their group were present, and she hoped they'd all be up for a stroll in the meadow.

"Hey, girls, miss me?" the older angel inquired, stepping up to them to interject in dialogue they were having with some other students from different classes who apparently were in some of the classes they had sometimes. Noticing Grora's arrival when she uttered that question, they gave their goodbyes and waved while heading off for home as the three remaining girls turned to her.

"Grora?" Froze sounded slightly surprised as she put forth her own inquiry. "What are you doing here? We just saw each other at the castle not too long ago. Have you followed us to school?"

"Yep, pretty much," her foster mother replied with a warm smile and gently ruffled Froze's hair. "Since I've still got time available before I go on an evening patrol, I thought I'd pick you up from school and take you girls on a little stroll if you'd like and also have time to. Sound good?"

"That's nice, Chelan and I appreciate the offer," Dialo spoke up, her phrasing of that remark meaning she couldn't make it herself—and if she wasn't available, neither was Chelan as she also noted. "However, the two of us have to get back home and finish a project for one of our classes." Her angelic housemate hummed with a smile, nodding her head and spreading her arms up to show some emphasis on how important and spectacular it must've been. "Maybe some other time when we're free, Miss Grora, but thank you for inviting us all the same," Dialo went on and smiled since she wanted to show her gratitude before she and Chelan headed home. "See you tomorrow, Froze. See you soon, Miss Grora." With that said, the two of them waved and walked away to leave.

"Yep, see you another time!" Grora shut her eye and waved back at them with Froze before averting her attention to the younger angel beside her. "So, what do you say, Froze? Why not spend a bit of bonding time with your foster mother?" She smiled warmly and put an arm around Froze's shoulder as a gesture of goodwill and familial affection for her. "You're not busy either, right?"

"For now, no, but my shift is coming up at the anthropology and archaeology departments soon," the young angel murmured, her own pigtails which were slightly similar in style to Grora's swaying in the breeze too which also brushed against her domino styled skirt. "I was hoping to get my homework done for the day. I don't have too much—just a couple sheets of algebraic problems I need to work on—but I could join you for a little bit so long as I have time to get to work soon."

"Aw, don't worry about it, Froze, I can help you with your homework since I know algebra quite well. It'll be a snap with my aid," she chuckled and closed her eye again, stroking the young angel's face. "Why don't we go to the meadow and do it there? We can find a nice spot to relax at for a while until your shift comes up. Maybe we can even get a light dinner first prior to work."

"Unfortunately, I can't make it for that, Grora. Some of the other employees and I already planned on discussing our findings over dinner tonight, hence the early schedule for some of us."

"I see, but at least you have the time to walk and chat," Grora smiled and began to lead her foster daughter through Gray Village towards the gate leading to the meadow. "I'm truly glad I'm getting to spend at least some time with you together, even if it's just the two of us together. Why don't we discuss how things are going in school and with your friends for a bit while we walk? I'll even stop by the local ice cream vender and pick up a couple light snacks for us. Sound good?"

"I wouldn't want to spoil my dinner so soon before it, but it'll be nice," Froze said, smiling.

"It certainly would," her foster mother replied stepping in sync with the younger angel for the purpose of walking beside her with an arm around Froze's shoulder. "So how's school going?"

"Alright, I've been getting my assignments done early or on time as usual. The work is not too difficult and I can comprehend it. I've even helped tutor some of my fellow peers in classes as they had some difficulty understand the content and context of it. All in all, everything's good."

"You accept help from other students as well and are sure to partner up with others besides your friends, right? I know you're close to them, but do try to get others involved as well, Froze."

"I do, yes," Froze commented as a response to the inquiry when they came up to a vender. Getting in line, the two of them waited for their turn to get some ice cream as they continued their chat on the younger angel's academic progress. "Not to brag, but I do score high on my work and tests and the faculty have given me high regards for my cooperation with others, plus my attention to detail in the work I do as well as other matters pertaining to educational subjects and my job."

"I think it's amazing how you've managed to secure a fulltime position despite only being a part time employee," Grora complimented her, firmly squeezing the girl's shoulder even though she still remained gentle with the motion. She was certainly proud of Froze for having excelled in life as both a student and an anthropologist and archaeologist. While Froze's skills in combat with healing and magic would've made her a cleric or mage, such occupations—particularly that latter role as a mage—did fit the social positions she was integrated into. She brought her up well while receiving help from other members of the girl's family who were too busy to take her in themselves and welcomed the support from Grora when the older angel offered to raise her as a foster daughter. "You've come quite far in life for somebody so young, and I'm proud to have helped you make it and also of your achievements too. I imagine you'll get right to work as soon as you graduate."

"Indeed, I plan to," Froze nodded with a small smile as their turn came. Ordering a vanilla cone for herself and a pistachio cone for the younger angel, Grora accepted the two cones and gave the latter to Froze while they began walking towards the meadow. Besides sound from their rather casual discussion, the sound of other people talking and Froze's backpack lightly bouncing on her back as they strolled through Gray Village filled the air as did the music from a band playing over in Apple Park as the two of them passed by. "My friends keep telling me I should celebrate with a graduation party and some time off to savor that achievement, but I believe beginning professional responsibilities is more important. After all, I would like to follow in my parents' footsteps."

"True," Grora admitted while enjoying her vanilla ice cream. "I thought you'd say that and expected as much since I know you well. But still, you should spend some time enjoying your big accomplishments as a further reward for having done so well in school and at work. You're young but once in your life until you start getting older and have to assume more responsibilities because they'll be coming up soon. To be fair, life's enjoyable even with those if you love the job you get. Nevertheless, one shouldn't put aside his or her friends and time to enjoy their company and savor completed goals; they come first even if you may not always be able to make time for them, so try to be happy not just for yourself, but for their sakes too by hanging out with them to enjoy rewards like your graduation." Her wisdom was quite logical and profound from having lived her own life to the fullest in all its longevity, so it was only natural Grora would have an idea of how to live.

"I suppose you have a point," Froze admitted, also enjoying her own ice cream. "Maybe it would be a good idea to celebrate with a graduation party, though I don't want additional vacation time off from work when a significant part of my life is stake. I'm sure you know what I mean."

Grora nodded, understanding exactly where Froze was coming from. Not only did the girl wish to be like her parents and follow in their footsteps, she also wanted to study assignments they did and analyze artefacts the two of them were researching to find out why they were killed. When Froze was born, an unknown assailant whom the authorities had no leads on slaughtered both Iris and Horus while possibly destroying any documents. Even the entire medical team who helped in the process of bringing Froze into the world died as well, specifically those who were involved in it and knew about her. Nobody knew who did it or why, yet Froze survived as if she was meant to. Although the circumstances were very hazy on the killings, one thing was perfectly clear: she was a Nephilim child with the qualities, traits, and characteristics of a pure angel, so Froze must've had a twin if possible who disappeared during the slaughter. If she did not have a twin, she would have been an only child and would've possessed physical traits of a demon from her father as the angelic parts came from her mother. That was a good reason why she undertook the job: to see if she could learn more about the motive behind the deaths of her parents and a possible abduction or vanishing of her alleged twin sibling, Froze had to follow in their footsteps to uncover the truth she sought.

"Grora?" Froze inquired, lightly tapping the older angel's should to see if she hadn't zoned out. "You do remember what I am referring to right? You haven't forgotten about it, have you?"

"No, I haven't," Grora set her at ease by reassuring her she didn't forget. "I was just looking back on what happened when you were born and thinking of how it made an impact on you. You've really let it get to you in a way, but not from an unhealthy standpoint. Rather than obsess over the incident, you approach it at your own pace to ensure it doesn't consume you whole. Believe me, I saw that happen to plenty of people during the war. It's not pretty, so I'm glad you're concentrating on the matter with a cool head and approaching it with a calm, collected demeanor to stay sane."

"If you don't mind me asking, Grora," Froze murmured, having finished her ice cream and throwing the remains of the cone out in a wastebasket by the gate at the meadow which Grora also did as well, "what about you? Have you ever let the past drive you insane—aside from the problem with Ater, of course? Do you not ever let it get to you?" Her inquiry was a valid one, and the older angel was grateful for her concern because she knew Froze was worried about her too just as she'd been for her. The two of them really were that close in their foster mother-adoptive daughter bond.

"Besides that little bitch and her twin sister, no, I don't," Grora replied, stuffing her hands into her pockets as they started walking down a path in search of a spot to sit and relax at so they'd be able to focus on the younger angel's algebra homework. "I want to forget what happened in my past, including everything I experienced. I just want to let it all go and live a peaceful life instead, surrounded by close friends I consider my family since I don't have one of my own anymore—the family you're a part of is definitely included in that with you too, Froze. This life we're in, the new world order of harmonious peace we're experiencing; both of these things are precious to me now, and I don't want my bloody past to suffocate me under its weight with so much guilt and despair."

"Even your past involvement with True Light and Hastur, Grora?"

"Yep, even that," the older angel affirmed her answer with a nod and brought the younger one down a path to their right towards a pasture overlooking another part of the meadow where an old set of ruins were located. Sauntering down the gravel track, Grora led Froze towards the center of this place and stepped through the threshold of one building that used to be part of a stable some demons used to store their warhorses in during the war. She could remember seeing a few back in the war when her scouting parties ambushed cavalry units on their majestic steeds. Nowadays this place had been abandoned before being converted into a landmark after being relocated here; while the whole ranch they were on would've been great for riding horses through the meadow, tall grass prevented them from being too effective for that purpose. "But enough about the past and all when we've got to live for the present and the future. It can be pretty depressing at times, Froze, so let's not dwell on it any longer, okay? Besides, we've got to get your algebra homework done in time."

"Yes, we should," Froze commented and gazed around at the empty building they were in. The wood was cracked and the shutters were broken, slowly on the verge of falling off their hinges to land on the ground beneath them. Even the floorboards beneath their feet were quite ancient too, and they creaked beneath their feet as the angels walked along them. Musty wallpaper was peeling off the walls in some spots of this room and the smell of old paint aging ran rampant in the air they breathed. Regardless of the fact these poor regulations would've condemned the building, Etihw's magic kept the place clean of any unhealthy substances like asbestos and other carcinogenic waste while ensuring the structure was intact so people could hang out here if they ever wanted to. "This is a pretty nice place…" the young angel murmured to compliment it. "I've seen it whenever I was in the area, but haven't actually been in here before until now. It was a stable for horses, right?"

"Sure, this is just the homestead. Want to go into the adjacent barn connected to it?" Grora raised her arm and pointed backwards with her thumb, offering to take her foster daughter into the other area. "There's a sweet loft in there we can hang out in." Taking Froze by the hand, she took her through a couple more empty rooms to reach the barn itself. Admiring large rectangular spaces where horses were kept, the young angel gazed around the room with a bent finger to her chin and examined the place with a good eye for detail. The wood in here was rotting too just like in the old homestead, and plenty of straw was still laid about on dried up patches of dirt and grass so that the stuff covered much of the ground. Noticing the broken remains of what used to be a ladder, Froze looked up at the ceiling to find the loft had a regular floor while the roof was acute and had several shingles still hanging from a metal frame holding them together via dried plaster as an adhesive.

"Are you sure it's structurally safe?" she asked, wondering if it would hold their weight.

"It is, I've been up here plenty of times with the guys I work with in the castle's garden, so I can confirm that it'll hold," her foster mother reassured her and flapped her wings to fly up after lifting her feet off the ground. "We've even set up some chairs here sometimes while sharing tales about the war—and in Mitchell's case, his old guild—and have never encountered an issue." Upon reaching it and heaving herself over the edge, she helped Froze after the other angel stopped flying over it. "Right, there you go, Froze," Grora commented and turned to mosey around with her arms held out to show off the empty space around them with some windows as openings to the outside world. "Well, here we are, a nice little niche to just kick back and relax in. Allow me to be the first to welcome you here, Froze. It's not much, but it'll do sometimes whenever people want to relax."

"I see…" Froze commented, somewhat critically since she wasn't impressed that much by how empty this place was. Even so, she still appreciated spending time with her foster mother and didn't mind the bare loft devoid of anything so long as they were together. "You're right, this place isn't much at first glance; though some furniture, decorations, and items can make it a bit lively."

Understanding that the girl was only offering suggestions to kill the dreary boredom since she was unimpressed, Grora averted her attention back to Froze since she fully agreed it was very bland and dull. "Yeah, I get what you're saying. I've always thought about taking that kind of stuff up here so we can at least have some forms of entertainment and better comfort. Unfortunately for this place, it's still falling apart and you even see some of the floorboards up here beginning to rot and fall away. I've heard some treasure hunters looking for stuff from the past will even collect an assortment of old shit from structural formations like this one simply because they consider it more valuable than finding actual treasure. To each his or her own, I guess, what with cherishing a past everyone has already moved on from." Grora sighed, realizing that even here they couldn't escape the past they worried about even if this place didn't reference their own pasts. Stretching her arms up and resting them behind her head, she sat down up against part of the roof and motioned for the other angel to join her. "Sorry if I mentioned the past again, Froze. Perhaps coming here wasn't a good idea in the first place when we could've gone to a more modern locale together to hang out."

"Not at all; though I do think the emptiness is dismal, the solitude and quiet are welcome," Froze remarked, at least finding a couple good aspects in this timeworn building. "One could even hear himself or herself think clearly without the presence of others bothering them. Rude, I know, though sometimes it's good just to take a break from too much socialization to be alone for once."

"Who said anything about wanting to get away from others?" Grora asked, wondering why the young angel would make such a comment. "You know, Froze, sometimes you're cold to other people. I get that you're a nice girl and all who's kind and caring towards others while maintaining a composed state of mind and being docile. Sure, I understand wanting some personal space might be good every now and then, but you don't have to be condescending towards others because of it being something you'd rather have sometimes on occasions when quiet moments are preferred."

"Sorry if I came across as such, I didn't mean it," Froze apologized somberly, recognizing that her bluntness was a problem at times whenever she conversed and dealt with others. "Although I do realize the content of my speech may be sharp and direct, it's hard to find the right words and phrasing to express myself sometimes. I do acknowledge it can be perceived as rude, though I can try to find other means and ways of saying things to get around that issue as difficult as it may be."

"It doesn't sound difficult, Froze, you just have to become a more amiable person to others and be more polite to them instead of phrasing your thoughts bluntly," Grora explained briefly due to understanding the nature of the angel's issue with expressing herself. "Though you're not really my biological daughter, I bet you get that from me since I did raise you like my own daughter. It's something I do want to clear up as well, though that aspect is one thing about me I shall not get rid of because it's part of who I am. At best I can only improve it and deliver the blunt statements only at times when they're truly needed, otherwise I might as well end up struggling to find words."

"So you're saying to retain it, yet be sharply direct only when necessary?" Froze asked.

"Pretty much, yeah, that's the idea," Grora answered her, putting an arm around the young angel when her foster daughter sat down beside her. "But enough of that for now, time to start your homework. Show it to me and I'll help you with it. You've got something to write with, correct?"

"Yeah, I've got pens and pencils in my backpack," Froze responded, pulling out the sheets of algebraic expressions she had to complete for a mathematics class in school. Her wings flapped lightly at the sound of footsteps down below and she turned her head towards where they came up after taking a pencil out. "Hmm, somebody else appears to be here with us. I wonder who it is."

Grora shrugged. "Probably someone out on a walk or just checking this place out. I'm sure whoever it is came out of idle curiosity, though let's not bother the individual. Your homework is more important now, especially since we've got to make sure you get to work on time, Froze. Now then, these are the problems you're required to get done, yes?" Looking over them, she found that the first few on one sheet were already finished and she smiled since she was glad Froze managed to do some on her own. "Seems like you already started from the looks of it. You must've run out of time at school to finish the rest before you had to go, but we'll get them done here quicker now."

"There were actually two other sheets I had to do, though they're done thanks to Dialo and Yosaf. They helped me before Yosaf left with Macarona to go to their club, so Dialo and I finished the rest and started this third page prior to departing ourselves," Froze explained to her briefly.

"Ah, your friends helped with this too, I see. That was nice of them. Why don't we get this one finished then and begin with the next one afterwards?" the older angel suggested, using a book Froze took out as something to keep the paper on since they could've put holes in both sheets due to writing on them without anything underneath for support to keep the paper steady. Preparing to get ready, Grora couldn't help but shut her eye and chuckle because she thought of a few memories that were much happier than her past. "This kind of reminds me of the days I used to help tutor the other kids in school before you were born. They were good kids, and everyone still is. I remember this one demonic girl who was very interested in sports, but had difficulty understanding a few of the other things she was learning in different classes. She asked for my help and I provided it; now she's doing well as a fitness instructor in another town and I couldn't be happier for her success."

"Only because you believed her horrid lies, falling for them like always ever since then."

"Ri—" Grora began to speak up until her eye jolted wide open when she recognized that a familiar voice had spoken up. Instinctively she leapt to her feet and rushed in front of Froze because she wanted to protect her foster daughter from this man. "Froze, stay back! Keep away from him!"

"Wha—?" Froze tried to comprehend the situation, wondering why the older angel started to tense up until she caught sight of an unexpected visitor standing by the ladder. She stared at him in shocked confusion, wondering who he was. Decked out in Mithril armor in an overcoat over it and two twin war axes at his sides with similar katanas on his back—all four made of silver—he stood passively in a brooding posture. Calm, yet cold anger emanated from the presence this man imposed upon them both, and he glared directly at Grora to display disapproval of her and whatever she was responsible for. A long scar was on his face. "Grora, who is this? Do you know this guy?"

"Just stay behind me and I'll protect you, Froze! Don't listen to him and his lies!"

Froze's eyes widened more when she suddenly realized who her foster mother referred to, and now that man from her past was standing right before them both as if he sought a confrontation with them. "Wait, it can't be…Grora is that really him? Is this the guy you told me and everybody else about? Has he really come back to the Gray Garden?" Her knowledge didn't surprise him.

"So that's what these wretched people are calling this world…not surprising given the mix of two radically different colors that are polar opposites," Hastur remarked, crossing his arms and evidently disapproving of that as well because he found it insulting. "And here you are, Grora, me finding you having already told all the petty liars and filth the whole truth just as you did then. I'm still not forgiving you for not fulfilling your duty as a pawn, a tool and scapegoat I've been forced to make use of as I've done with everyone else. Seems like you truly have gone insane and decided to protect this sordid world of yours instead of letting yourself be thrown away as a sneaky cur."

"You're wrong, Hastur! You always have been! It was not I who had gone insane! You've proven that about yourself just as you've shown your true colors back then, so don't try to deny it even if you actually admit your own deception! You're just some pot calling the kettle black!" the older angel shouted at him, prepared to defend Froze with her life if he went after her. She growled, not liking the present state of this ordeal. Hastur was already fully armed and she had no weapons of her own on her person with the exception of her martial arts. He already proclaimed himself as the main culprit and continued to advocate the same old philosophy he believed in, the traditional beliefs of angels during the war between them and demons. Hastur hadn't changed at all since she last saw him…yet his return made Grora feel uneasy. She knew why he came back, but not how it was possible; by all accounts, Hastur was banned, exiled from this world when both the Devil and the Goddess closed it off to him without affecting the entrance of foreign visitors and tourists.

"I can say the same about you, Grora," he commented bitterly, not even providing the other angel in their presence the time of day because he could care less about Froze. "In fact, you're the one who's dreadfully wrong, Grora. It was you who showed your own true colors, proving you're nothing but a deceitful liar like the rest of these demons and Fallen Angels. How you've fallen and now deny your own role in our old organization and your past. You've become no better than this decrepit filth we're standing in now." His insult bounced right off of her because Grora knew better than him. She had in fact changed and ascended when she fell, finding redemption by atoning since she was indeed responsible for her actions in True Light. If anything, she was in the right while he was in the wrong, and the angelic lady would never stoop to his level ever again as she moved on.

"Froze!" she instructed in a commanding voice without taking her eye off Hastur since she didn't want him to suddenly charge and attack the girl behind her. "Get out via the window behind us! Go to Blancblack Castle and warn Lady Etihw and Sir Devil, ASAP stat! Hurry, go quickly!"

"A-ah, y-yes, Grora!" Froze remarked and grabbed her things before sprinting towards the very window her foster mother pointed out to her. Leaping out, she spread her wings out and made sure to flap them as hard as she could to get airborne and fly towards the castle. Averting her gaze back to the barn where Grora and Hastur still were, she observed the place apprehensively because she hoped the older angel would be alright on her own against such a deadly foe from her past.

"Letting a Fallen Angel go?" Hastur asked. "You trust her enough on her own by herself?"

"More than you! I trusted you once, and you betrayed me!" Grora accused him, thankful it appeared he hadn't taken an interest in stopping the young angel. Perhaps his anger towards her in regards to their interaction and relationship in the past was geared more towards her, keeping him from taking action to prevent Froze from retreating to Blancblack Castle. With her gone, she could focus more on Hastur and worry less about Froze since the younger angelic girl was safely on her way to the castle where the authorities would protect her and send aid. All Grora needed to do was hold him off to the best of her abilities, and she wasn't going to let rage cloud her judgment. She'd be careful to make sure she'd be able to return as well, even if with a few wounds or so; nothing a skilled combatant like her worried about since she received plenty of wounds during Ivlis' invasion and Soa's attack in addition to the ones Hastur dealt. "You betrayed everyone! We believed in you to the very end! Does that not matter to you, Hastur?! We trusted you and you used us for yourself!"

"Bah, as if I'd care for useless pawns I despise and don't want to use," her foe scoffed, not bothered by the fact he was admitting it. "But use you and everyone I did because you were merely a means to an end I was forced to use, and I plan on atoning for that offense by obliterating you as you're the sole survivor of True Light aside from me, Grora. Then, once you're dead, burning in a pitiful hell that I too shall annihilate once I become the sole God of Existence, I shall progress onto this world and others I shall destroy and recreate the way I see fit. Only then will peace be ensured."

"Spare me your consequentialist bullshit, Hastur! You care about ends justified by means you take to establish peace! That's not peace you're talking about; it's a pure dictatorship!" Grora pointed out the glaring flaw in his logic, realizing he wouldn't care about it regardless of the truth.

"So what if it is?" he inquired calmly, yet in a bitter tone of voice to prove her correct since he would at least acknowledge that by also acknowledging her awareness of the idea. "I don't care how strict I have to be or how immoral my actions are. As long as peace can be achieved by taking down every single demon in existence and every single Fallen Angel as well in addition to heavens that do not constantly fight against the demons in their own worlds, I'll do anything to accomplish that objective before wiping the entire slate clean and starting afresh with a new existence. I alone shall solely have all the power to dictate my laws as I see fit, and nothing will happen without my say-so. I don't need any putrid council advising me on what to do or how to go about my business."

"See that?! You're proving my point! You are an insane, power-hungry bastard!"

"I've proven nothing, but you've proven you're just a filthy heathen who chose to give into the lies everyone—including you now that you're one of them, Grora—spreads throughout all we know as existence," Hastur accused her, not even jabbing a finger at her because he believed she'd become unworthy of even that minor gesture. "This existence is impure and unclean, and I am the only individual in this existence who recognizes that and sees the truth for what it is and what it'll be because it should be. Only then will true light successfully be ushered in with harmonious peace. In order for that reality to be realized—no, to exist, I shall slaughter all who oppose and side with me because my vision of existence is the only proper one. Everything else is no more than a lie."

"Again, you're demonstrating the point I'm making by saying you'll kill your own allies!"

"Because they do not deserve power since they too are meant to fall before me."

"Why?! For what purpose would you murder your own allies for power?!"

"You know as well as I do that each and every other individual in existence besides me are not pure; they're tainted by evil, always fighting some force regardless of whether it's demonic. If true peace is to be achieved—and achieved it will be just because I say so—I must wipe this slate clean by obliterating it and beginning anew in an existence I alone shall create and govern."

"But you're just criticizing yourself, Hastur! Don't you see how flawed that logic is?!"

"Flawed to those who only think about fighting demons or believing their lies. Know this, Grora, everybody else in existence besides me is a Fallen Angel, and that includes you," he stated, again hammering his misguided ideals and insane thought process onto her as he did with others.

She scowled at him, displeased with the usual narcissistic attitude he exhibited to everyone around him. It was this behavior of his that was condemned by Etihw during the war along with a lot of other moments from the past in the same timeframe when they weren't fighting demons. She did give Hastur some promotions for his skills in combat, but his sour personality and desire to be a perfect being at the expense of everyone else who he willingly sacrificed without caring for them at all in order to achieve his goals. Many times he even openly threatened her and others solely to accomplish that goal as Etihw later told Grora after she'd confessed her sins to her and Kcalb about her involvement in True Light—more like False Light now that she knew what he was really like. Hastur was a man distinguished only by his skills and bad attitude, both of which were dangerous.

"Not going to try and disprove that?" he inquired coldly regarding his previous remark.

"Why bother?" Grora lowered her voice, beginning to feel the effects of strain on her own throat for having yelled at him. _"Dammit…I let my anger get a hold of me..."_ she thought, grateful that she hadn't taken the offensive against Hastur, preferring a defensive stance instead. "You will only blather on with your own damn ideology just as you would claim I'd do with mine. What will be the point of that if we get nowhere Hastur? Either say your piece if you haven't already, or go."

"I already have, thereby demonstrating that your beliefs are pitiful and a mere folly against my own. Thus I have proven I'm perfectly justified in killing you here and now as punishment for your sins of existing, believing lies fed to you by demons and Fallen Angels, and for getting in my way." Grora didn't say anything despite maintaining her defensive pose as Hastur reached back to unsheathe his silver katanas when a ringing suddenly caught their attention. Sighing while pulling out a cellphone, Hastur remained silent while answering it and turned it off after a few minutes of them waiting for the call the end so Grora could determine what his next action would be.

"Well?" she asked, ready to use her martial arts against him if he attacked.

"You got off easy," Hastur commented and instantly vanished, having teleported away over to another distant location. Where he went exactly was a mystery, though Grora didn't stand by to wait for the man to come back. She turned and ran to the window, leaping out to fly to the castle.

…

 **And now Hastur has finally come out into the open with quite a sinister agenda.**

 **To be honest, the way I developed Hastur in this chapter was done on purpose as I do want to use him as a set piece for helping to convey the moral lesson Grora will learn in this fanfic. To that end, I made him narcissistic and consequentialist—I think the philosophical form I referred to for this is utilitarianism. I understand why he isn't a likable character and I am in agreement on that. Still, he will serve his purpose and that's all that matters for this story. In fact, the way I'm using him is the same thing. The end I have in mind for him, that being using Hastur as the set piece, justifies the means of using him in this light for the story. You can think of this as irony in a way, though I believe his development is necessary for him because Hastur is the antagonist as I've stated before, and I want Grora to improve herself.**

 **Also, one thing I forgot to mention before was that the Mithril armor was inspired by the same set from Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Since there's already a disclaimer for the series, I don't believe another one will be necessary because it was meant to cover the entire series.**

 **I hope you enjoy reading this as I enjoy writing it.**


	6. Chapter Six: True Light's Old Base

Landing in the castle's courtyard gracefully before hurrying towards the front entrance, she passed by numorous employees and other guards who caught sight of her irritated expression that made them wonder if she was angry at the cat demons again. It was impossible in this scenario due to Ater and Arbus still working in the daycare center on the first floor. Although that department's proximity to the elevator was close by and gave them the allusion that it was her destination, Grora proved otherwise when she made a beeline towards the elevator itself and quickly pressed a button to call it down to the first floor. "Not going to give those girls their usual beating?" an angel asked, taking a sip of coffee while passing by when he noticed her presence. Ater and Arbus were nearby and they had already exited the daycare center with a child who had yet to be taken by his mother who was already on her way to the castle for him. The two of them saw Grora as well and watched as the angelic lady turned to address the other angel who'd been walking past her just then.

"Not this time, no," she answered him, impatiently tapping her foot against the floor as she crossed her arms. Her tone of voice came across as curt, though the obvious distress that manifested in her facial expression clearly showed she was definitely upset about something. What it was he'd only guess at as would everybody else who saw her arrive. However, some of them also witnessed Froze coming through the lobby with a similar expression on her own face before and they must've figured Grora was also tense because of a similar reason if it wasn't exactly the same. Perhaps the two of them really had to get to work and were upset at how tardy they'd been today, but that was actually the wrong assumption to make considering who just showed up in the Gray Garden. That was why both of them were in a rush, and Grora hoped this damn elevator was coming down right away so she could take it up. "Come on, come on…just get here already, will you?" she demanded.

Taking that kind of attitude with an elevator was odd, a bit strange even. Nevertheless they could understand she was impatient and was desperately wishing the elevator would arrive. When it did and the door opened, Grora wasted no time entering despite the fact she was rudely shoving her way in through a few other people who exited. "Excuse me," she commented bluntly, but in a polite way even though her tone was still bitter. "Sorry about the rush and all." Letting it shut once she made it in and pressed a button for the top floor, Grora again tapped her foot against the floor. Watching the dial turn in the direction towards that floor, she grimaced uneasily and hoped to god nobody else had to use this elevator too. Thankfully it appeared no one did, so she managed to get to her true destination right on time and exited once the door opened. Quickly storming over to the double doors into the office Kcalb and Etihw used, Grora threw them open hastily and stomped in.

"Grora!" Froze called out, whirling around at the sound of the doors opening and instantly rushing to see if the older angel was okay. "You're alive! You're not hurt or anything, right?"

"I'm fine, Froze, thank you for the concern," her foster mother spoke quickly and gave her a light pat on the head to quickly ruffle her head while hurrying past the younger angel toward two desks on either side of the room. "He's come back!" she exclaimed in anger, looking between the Goddess and the Devil who apparently had already heard the message from Froze. Although Kcalb didn't look surprised, he maintained a grim outlook concerning the matter; whereas Etihw became bewildered at the thought of that man's return to their world. "The bastard's shown up again! He's come back to attack our world again, just like he attempted to do back then! We have to stop him!" Words alone could not express the urgency of this situation, hence Grora's reference to the past.

"We know, Grora, Froze told us already," Kcalb said calmly while his brother watched on as the angelic lady was relaying her own statements regarding Hastur's reappearance in their world after decades of peace in his absence. "We've already made arrangements to have patrols be on an alert for him. They shall keep a close eye on the surrounding region and others in the event he has brought allies with him to aid in the assault. Their orders are to be cautious apprehending him due to his skills as a warrior assassin." While his comments were sound, Grora didn't seem to agree.

"Apprehend him?!" she sounded somewhat surprised and mostly outraged at the idea of an attempt to arrest Hastur. "You think he'll just eventually surrender at some point?! No, this is some stupid idiot who shall not bow down to others and refuse to turn himself in! He knows better than that; Hastur is well aware that simply attempting to slip away while in custody is an advantage we are already knowledgeable of. He'll not come quietly, preferring to slaughter everyone we send to apprehend him before working his way here." She strode forward and slammed her hands onto the desk Kcalb sat at, nearly knocking over some of the miscellaneous items related to work. "A much better idea would be to send an army after this guy to take him down by killing him, you know."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on for just a minute, Grora!" Etihw leapt from her chair and took several steps over to try and calm their subordinate down before she did anything rash. "That's not how we do things and you know it. Violence is never the answer. We'll get him for sure, but we've no desire to stoop to his level. Were we to do so, it would only tarnish our harmonious nature and taint us with a possible darkness we'll have difficulty clearing away. Please, let us handle this."

"And what then, huh? You would rather send innocent men and women to their deaths?"

"We're not saying that, Grora!" Etihw protested against the angel's remark.

"Your actions and decisions are implying it!" Grora countered with her own comment and strode away from the desk to pace in the center of the room while thinking of her own plan to end this threat for good. She put a bent finger to her chin and tried to soothe her nerves so she wouldn't think unclearly, though it was hard when the Goddess and the Devil were not taking it seriously.

"True, we shall not deny that," Wodahs spoke up while his brother nodded to agree. "This is indeed a very serious threat as we do acknowledge it. However, we must be rational about it. He is most definitely a threat to the stability of our world, and the stability and harmony are things we wish to preserve. Calm yourself, Grora, we know this man will endanger the Gray Garden, but we cannot ever resort to murder and violence as the solutions to solve this problem, understand?"

"So you're willing to take him on as if Hastur's some petty to moderate threat?!" she jabbed a snappish finger at them all to accuse them of not handling this matter accordingly. "Your plan to settle this peacefully won't work!" To emphasize her point, Grora stopped to stomp her foot. "We need to kill Hastur to ensure he doesn't corrupt anyone else in this world or other worlds! You all want to try and apprehend him, fine! My only advice is that you go after him with the intention of fighting to kill him, because underestimating his military prowess will get you killed, got it?!"

"While we may have to oppose him in combat from that approach depending on how strong he's become since having been exiled from this world following his escape, we still can't kill him," Kcalb concurred with the idea despite still siding with the notion to let Hastur live and be arrested.

"But he can and will kill us!" Grora continued to protest, trying to hammer her point in.

"Point taken, but we're not giving in to aggressive tendencies even if our opponent will. It may not be the best course of action in your mind, Grora, but know we will not ever go down that dark path even if a man like him does," Etihw spoke her own piece and held a hand up to quiet the angelic lady before she could argue any further. "We understand your concern, but please consider ours and calm yourself, Grora. You know he'll do anything to ensure he succeeds, that much could be extrapolated from this. With that in mind, we can be sure he'll go to extreme measures and even place himself at risk to usher in his own twisted ideal of peace if nobody else is supporting him."

"Somebody already is helping him," Grora commented and then began to explain what led to that conclusion. "Before he was about to fight me, somebody called Hastur off via his cellphone. He left without saying who it was, though that in of itself is definitive proof he has allies or so."

"Somebody called him off, eh?" Kcalb murmured and shut his eyes to ponder what it meant and how that piece of the puzzle was important and relevant to the situation. If I had to guess, it'll probably be somebody from either this world or Fumus' heaven. We did establish communication with his heaven, but also Rosaliya's world and Reficul's underworld all for the purpose of foreign trade. Hastur wouldn't work with demons, so we can rule out Reficul and Rosaliya; the same could be said for Fumus because I believe he wouldn't provide any aid to Hastur either. Nevertheless, it is possible somebody in his heaven might've just as it's possible for somebody else from a different world completely might've done it. Even so, he was exiled and our magic should've kept him out."

"With all due respect Sir Devil, maybe the magic you and Lady Etihw used wasn't enough to stop him," Grora suggested a possible theory that put doubt on their abilities, not that she meant to because it was only a hypothesis and nothing more. "Perhaps it weakened over time or the like."

"Maybe," Kcalb went on theorizing as well, "but if not that leaves a variety of suspects. If not Rosaliya, Fumus, or Reficul—and I'm strongly positive none of them are the perpetrators since I believe them—it would need to be another deity because Hastur wouldn't accept help from Devils and demons. We know that about him, and we're also aware of the fact that only other deities and Devils can bypass our magic to send their forces into our world. Ruling out the latter, we're left to assume it's a deity." His logic made sense and everyone agreed with it because it was the only idea they had as to who could've helped Hastur return to this world following his exile after his crimes.

"It looks like we're dealing with another invasion, one that could lead to another war," the Head Angel remarked, recognizing the grim outlook of their situation. "We should prepare for it."

"Indeed," his brother agreed and nodded, "though this time let's be better prepared. We do not want a repeat of what happened when Ivlis invaded our world. That being said, and this is just my personal opinion of the matter even though I dislike him, but I believe he might side with us if the God of his world, Siralos, is behind this latest excursion. However, his reason for joining us is to fight against Siralos as his God would be a common foe not just against us, but him as well."

"Yes, just as Reficul would aid us against Elux if her Goddess invades," Etihw commented. "Even so, Kcalb, do you really believe we should accept foreign aid with our own problems? I do think it is a good idea, but an invasion of our world is between us and the invaders, not others."

"It is an idea, yes, one we mustn't overlook when attempting to solve such problems. Still, I too would like to avoid getting other worlds involved in our defense unless it is necessary and of the utmost importance. Calling on allies is good and all, but we must handle this with honor despite the fact our opponent might not be honorable. In the event whoever our foe may be summons allies of his or her own, we can call on others to gather their opinion and see if they would support us in an attempt to convene a diplomatic meeting to avoid the conflict if it can be avoided, that is. Even so, we might also be able to call upon them to help in the defense if they wish to think about it."

Looking back and forth between the Goddess and the Devil, Grora frowned as she listened to their discussion and shut her eye to ponder on the state of their international affairs. Their world did indeed trade with a few other worlds, so commercial ties were the only foreign links they had. If one of their commercial associates were to provide aid, it would only be to preserve trade instead of friendship even though individuals like Reficul and Rosaliya had friends in this world. That link would've been a close second priority in this dilemma. Besides, the Gray Garden was neutral with regards to foreign conflicts in other worlds and only conducted diplomacy if they ever got involved in the dispute and whatever it was about. None of the other worlds would aid a neutral world even though they might've respected it for handling matters diplomatically in fair negotiations; yet they probably would if they actually did seek the Gray Garden's skills in diplomatic affairs. Getting aid from another world or two was going to be difficult because each of them had an underworld, or a hell as it was known in some places, and a heaven. Two different leaders governed each world and fought against one another: deity versus Devil, and angels versus demons. Calling on one for help meant the other could become an enemy. As simple as it sounded, it was complicated in reality.

"In any case," Kcalb went on in the discussion, "we must still consider the idea; though for now let's concentrate on Hastur and play this matter by ear. Based on how strong he might be, we should have somebody experienced lead a team to confront him. We have seasoned warriors and mages among our forces, including battlemages, spellswords, and knights. In my opinion, I believe we should instruct our veteran battlemages and spellswords to take charge in case Hastur somehow learned how to do magic. Granted, I'm sure he might not look favorably on it, but we can't assume he wouldn't consider using it to his advantage even if he takes pride in being a skilled warrior."

"Very well, that is a sound precautionary idea. Let's go with that," Etihw agreed with him.

"Certainly, I'll instruct the guards to prepare themselves and update them on this strategy," Wodahs commented, not warping out just yet because there may have been more they wanted him to relay to them when Grora spoke up after a brief period of silence to garner everyone's attention.

"Oh, believe me, I'm sure he knows how to use magic. He warped out like the Head Angel does when he departed. You might want to have some anti-magic means of stopping him too. You should think about also calling in some of the old witch hunters who are still in our world. They're retired souls, though we could really use their expertise in that case in addition to my own skills."

"We appreciate the suggestion, Grora, and we shall follow through with it even though we don't hunt after witches anymore," Etihw murmured in agreement, making eye contact with Grora. "Still, I don't understand why you'd want to help out unless it's to bury your past. Last time you've faced him alone, you lost. We can certainly put you in a squad with others and take up patrols too."

"Thanks, though this isn't just to bury my past." With a small sigh of exhaustion, she closed her eye temporarily before reopening it to look them straight in the eyes. Speaking up in a confident voice, Grora declared what her intentions were. "If anybody is going to be taking him down, it has to be me. Besides Hastur, I'm the only other survivor of True Light. A former member of the order must defeat him to find complete redemption by atoning for the past mistakes we committed. You need me because I know him better than most, and I need this opportunity to truly make peace for my actions in True Light. Although I know you and everyone else already forgave me, I can't even forgive myself for what I've done back then until I put an end to Hastur and his life for good." She got down on one knee to humbly bow before them with one arm across her chest and the other on the floor, her hand pressed against it. "Please, I only ask that you grant me this much in this matter."

Kcalb, Wodahs, and Etihw all exchanged looks as they thought about whether it was right to let Grora have this chance to prove herself loyal to them. She already had multiple times before after confessing her involvement in True Light, but eventually the Devil addressed her and placed a compromise in front of her. "Very well, but do not kill Hastur unless you really have to in order to protect your comrades and civilians. That much we'll allow, though we still must try our best to avoid slaying him. After all, violence only breeds violence just as hatred breeds hatred, Grora. We must avoid that at all costs if we're to maintain harmonious peace and preserve it too, understand?"

Grora stood up and nodded before saluting them. "I understand, and thank you," she stated before turning to walk out. However, she made sure to stop next to Froze and smile at the younger angel who had remained silent throughout the entire meeting. Shutting her eye, she ruffled Froze's hair and messed up the position of her foster's daughter's cap, but she quickly fixed it. "Hey, Froze, sorry I didn't get a chance to help you finish your homework. I hope you've still got time to do it."

"I do, yes, and I can finish what I don't get done in homeroom session tomorrow morning," the young angel responded to that topic first before showing concern for her foster mother. "What about you, Grora? How will you handle this and where do you plan on starting? You won't get too hurt, will you? I mean, you can handle fighting Hastur even if you're on your own, right, Grora?"

The older angel's smile widened and she gently stroked Froze's cheek, grateful the girl she raised as her foster daughter was worried about her. "Fear not, sweetie, I'll take care of myself and anyone else with me. I know better than to go it alone. I also have a good idea of where to begin."

…

"Well, here we are, gentlemen, the entrance to our secret hideaway. Nobody would've ever suspected to look for a hidey-hole here in Daybreak Forest," she remarked, having stepped forward to present the tunnel entrance to them. It was more of an underground cave, really, secluded within a nest of slippery elm trees with poison hemlock and garlic mustard at the bases within patches of cheatgrass and foxtail barley. They had flown up onto a hill upon arriving to reach the mouth of it once they set down a warp slate for faster travel from here back to Blancblack Castle. As it was in the late evening to the dark of night, the sky was meant to be pretty dark. As they were in Daybreak Forest, however, the sky was very much like what it looked like each morning: dark purplish before the sun rose to bring light into the world. "Quite the hidden entrance, right? I'm not surprised no one saw it in the past because of how well hidden it was, though it seems vegetation took over."

"Back then, yes, and still the secret remains to be seen even when right in front of it," Rorin murmured once Grora introduced them to the entrance of the cavernous tunnel leading to the ruins of what had once been a silver mine during the war—the very same silver mine True Light utilized as its base of operations following the peace treaty established by Etihw and Kcalb. "I could barely see the way in through all the natural flora and trees blocking the opening." Unsheathing a weapon from his back, a double-edged claymore made from silver with a steel hilt laced with leather, Rorin stepped forward and poked at the vegetation to see if he could hack his way through it. "We should have brought some machetes with us to cut this stuff down so we can proceed onward into the old mining facility. I know a guy at the sporting goods store who sells them; a quick trip back can—"

"Sorry to interrupt, Rorin, though we don't have that kind of time," Mitchell spoke up and also stepped forward to examine the growth of vegetation. The light spell he cast moved with him, specifically one of four balls of light that would stay active for some time until he had to recast the spell. Clad in a steel cuirass with chainmail leggings and boots of the same design, he reached his hand out and felt the vegetation. "I'd burn this stuff," the spellsword suggested, knowing it wasn't a good idea, "but I'd run the risk of causing a forest fire that will immolate the entire forest."

"Oh, there was a way past it back then, and I'm sure it still is to this day," Grora said while walking forward, decked out in her Mithril armor minus a helmet. She reached out and seized one of the vines and used it as a rope to scale one particular tree instead of flying over it. Her bow was slung over her back and she kept her pair of silver scimitars sheathed at her sides, the weapons all clinking as she leapt off the tree and swung up to the top of a steep incline. Holding a hand above her face and pressing the side of it against her forehead to gaze around the area for signs of anything or anyone that could've opposed them, the angelic woman then diverted her attention towards the entrance and smiled, grateful it was left untouched with the exception of vines covering it. "Yeah, it's still good from what I can see up here. Just a few vines is all, but not much of a problem." She leapt down and unsheathed one scimitar, delivering a quick horizontal slash near the top to cut the vines down to provide them a way in. "Climb on over and come right in; the door's already open!"

"Already on it," Othros stated affirmatively since he and the other two were currently on a quick ascent up before dropping down to follow Grora into the tunnel. Sauntering forward, he had a quick look around and put forth a casual observation. "Plenty of mushrooms here of many diverse varieties. Better be careful, lest any are poisonous which I expect some of them to be at any rate." His chainmail armor brushed up against the vines that slid across two handheld crossbows on both sides of his belt, holstered there so he could draw them quickly at a moment's notice if need be.

"There's a lot down here," Grora uttered and began to lead her friends into the tunnel. Their footsteps echoed throughout the rocky corridors and she unsheathed the other scimitar to deal two strikes unto a giant cave spider that scuttled up to greet its guests with fangs. Although the creature attempted to make a meal out of them, the angelic lady easily dispatched it with the strokes of her blades. "This place was cleared out last time I was here. When was it?—oh, decades ago, just after I fought Hastur in the church constructed deeper in the cave to hide it from demons in the war. It's amazing how time flies; I imagine the place is already in a serious state of decay. Hell, perhaps the old structures have already crumbled into dust and aren't standing anymore." Another giant spider approached them and tried to strike with its front legs, but Grora blocked them to stop the attack.

"I'd say the new tenants aren't too happy with our unexpected arrival, barging in with none of the invitations to show the doorman," Mitchell joked, lashing out at the spider with a sword that he produced from air to slay the thing in one blow. "These guys don't seem that strong. I guess the creatures we're encountering aren't the main threat here." He followed up that attack with another one, a shard of ice he fired at a third spider which showed up to assault the group as they proceeded further into the cave. "Hey, Grora, how big is this place anyway? Surely Hastur wouldn't have put the main base of operations so far back to make his followers walk that much to arrive there."

"It's only a few winding turns here and there with a clearing in the center before two paths," Grora answered him while Othros dispatched two more spiders with crossbow bolts enchanted by Etihw to deal a small amount of fire damage with each blow while the crossbows themselves were enchanted to never run out of ammo. Enchantments were powerful abilities bequeathed upon what could hold them; particular items had to be proportionate in size, construct, and strength so magic in the enchantments could match said items. They were only as strong as the items were themselves because a stronger enchantment risked breaking the item in any sort of manner. The crossbows he wielded for example were recurve crossbows that could only contain adept level enchantments; if anything higher was applied to them, they would explode into pieces whenever someone fired the bolts. "This is a relatively small cavern compared to other ones in this region, so it won't be long."

"I'm more concerned with whatever else might be in here," Rorin commented, kneeling on the ground to examine a set of tracks he caught sight of to determine who or what made them. "I'd say we're probably going to be in for a clash with the beast who likely calls this place home now."

Stooping to analyze the tracks as well once their way forward was clear, Othros put a hand in the print of one footprint for a comparison of its size before doing the same with his foot. "Ogre," he declared, standing upright and alerting his friends to the creature's presence. "Its tracks are still fresh and there is a meaty smell in the air if you happen to notice the scent. Obviously it came back from having just caught dinner, venison or pork if I happen to be correct on the smell of meat."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go grab ourselves some seats at the table," Grora said in jest to lighten the mood, adrenaline pumping through her due to excitement. She fought a lot of ogres before, and figured they could add another one to that total—she lost count of how many she slew, exactly—while en route to True Light's old base. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving for some good eats—particularly those of the large and smelly variety," she referenced the ogre.

"I think I'll probably pass on that," Rorin chuckled, joining in on the fun. "We already ate not too long ago before coming here, though I might have some second thoughts about what to eat. Carrying Mitchell took a lot of energy I could gain back, though I'll probably go with fasting."

Mitchell was grateful for the ride, though he also laughed too and put an arm around Rorin after recasting the light spell. "Come on, dude, just go ahead and grab all the grub you can get! We need all the energy required to get through the night and back to the castle! And if we happen upon catching Hastur in the act, we'd need one of the best warriors the angels' have ever had the honor of fighting alongside in the war! After all, I bet the man's a mere novice compared to your skills!"

"Well, I wouldn't want to be modest about that," Rorin commented, returning the gesture.

"Indeed, though I happen to think Hastur would not be so easy to quell in battle even if we all outnumber him four to one," Othros pointed out and began to briefly explain his point of view. "Remember, this was a man who had been a candidate for the position of Commander-in-Chief of the angels' entire military force. Although he had not learned how to wield magic like Mitchell or anyone else has, we cannot deny the possibility of him having acquired skills in it after his exile."

"Exactly, his skills are some of the best techniques he knows," Grora commented to agree with him while going down a tunnel towards the first clearing. "Hastur is bound to be a tough nut to crack, especially since he could potentially go toe to toe with other excellent fighters. If I recall correctly, Rigatona was the only angel amongst the other candidates who could defeat him easily. Furthermore, even Yosaflame himself was superior in skill and good behavior like chivalry. Even Sir Devil, Head Angel, and Lady Etihw could take him down if they fought him. I'd reckon there's few individuals who could stand up against him and come out of the conflict unscathed whereas a number of other combatants would only escape with grievous wounds and possibly survive them."

"And which category would we fit in, Grora?" Mitchell inquired to comprehend the matter they were all facing. "I doubt we'd be able to win unscathed, so it would probably be the latter."

"Yep, the latter it is," the angelic lady confirmed it for them, yet none of the four members in their group let it dampen their spirits because they were fighting for a worthy purpose: the safety and security of their world and all who inhabited it. "I'll admit even I'm probably unable to handle Hastur on my own, hence why I'd like to thank you guys for offering to come with me so I shan't fight him alone. Our chances of success are greater together than alone; strength in numbers and a strong sense of unity! That's our power together as one, and I'm grateful for the aid you can give."

"That's what friends are for, Grora," Rorin murmured in agreement as they emerged in the cavernous clearing. "You know we'll always have your back in a situation like this problem here."

"Just as I'd always have yours in any other problem," the angelic lady smiled at him before she frowned at the sound of noise coming from all around them. It sounded like chanting, someone speaking in another dialect. The thought of having run into a cult crossed her mind, but Othros had taken a few steps forward to hold his arm out in front of everyone to keep them from going on. He listened carefully to the chanting as well, and turned to the group when bells were also heard too.

"Eloko," he murmured quietly as they all adopted the same cautious stance of his. "I could hear three of them. These flesh-eating dwarves must be servants of the ogre within. That may mean it'll be in the far back of this old mine, so we definitely must be close to the beast's inner lair."

"Then let's take care of the servants first once they welcome us to their humble abode with a firm greeting," Mitchell remarked, recasting the light spell yet again and then preparing to charge a bolt of ice to help fend off the Eloko. Catching sight of three figures approaching them, he raised an arm and pointed at the little trio who were coming to surround the four combatants. "That must be them now, I'll bet. Coming to expect an easy catch for their master, but will get a rude surprise." Saying so, he fired the bolt at one Eloko who raised a magic shield to block the blow. However, it only made the monkey demon smile because that particular spell could also freeze a target solid.

Caught off guard, the other two turned to their frozen comrade and stumbled backwards.

Immediately Rorin took the next step of the initiative and quickly stepped forward to bring his claymore down on the frozen target which shattered the Eloko into pieces. "You know, I must say these things don't seem really strong at all like the spiders we just finished slaughtering. Maybe whatever spell they're using isn't that effective on seasoned veterans like us; not to brag, that is."

"True, the Eloko is ineffective against experienced hunters and fighters such as us," Othros chimed in and fired two bolts into a second Eloko before the third made an attempt to flee, but the poor creature failed as Grora had already unsheathed her bow and shot one of her arrows into its neck. With the servants dispatched, the gang proceeded on their way forward while the bat demon holstered his crossbows for the time being until he needed to draw them again, still lecturing his friends on the nature of Elokos. "In addition to nature themed spells they can use, Elokos will use bells and singing to allure their opponents and victims by lulling them into a false sense of security. With their defenses down, the Eloko is free to consume them unless somebody can snap the targets out of the trance. Singing alone isn't powerful, but their bells have been enchanted to increase the potency of their vocal skills and improve the reverberation their singing has in interior locations; however, their bells also affect how far sound travels in exterior locations too. Fortunately, they're not too powerful and their spells can be negated by wearing any amulet enchanted to ward off their power. Although we don't have any, experience is sufficient enough as it too makes us immune."

"You sure seem to know a lot about the mythical fauna in our world, Othros," Grora stated as a compliment to him while they continued walking. "You must read a lot of field guides in your spare time, I bet." She shut her eye and giggled with a closed fist to her chin after slinging the bow over her back. "Nice to know we've got a living field guide among us to share his knowledge."

"Hey, the more you know, the more you can live through on excursions like this one we're on," the bat demon chuckled with her, appreciating the compliment as their other friends joined in and laughed too when they neared the threshold into the larger clearing where the silver mine used to be. It still was, though not in the same state it used to be because time had already aged the few buildings in this area of the cave. All the buildings miraculously withstood the test of time, yet the apparent rotting of crippled wood was leaving behind a foul odor as the wooden parts of each one began to fade and decay. One of the walls keeping the warehouse intact had already fallen, the rest of the igneous stonemasonry having cracked with huge holes in the remaining walls. The quarters used by the miners was also in poor shape since a portion of the second floor had fallen down into the first which left the stairs inactive as could be seen through a few holes in the structure and also the broken windows stained with grime. Even the church's roof had caved in due to wearing away, and the walls and glass were in a sorry state as well. However, what caught their attention was not any of these buildings, but rather the lone occupant that had stomped into the clearing and roared.

Clad only in fur leggings because nothing else could fit its enormous torso, the ogre could make out the intruders standing in the light and instantly knew they were imposing on its territory. Technically this place used to belong to the angels prior to becoming a base for True Light, though this creature was proud to call the place its home now that nobody else needed it. Grora knew this place wasn't valuable anymore, but felt there could've been something the other authorities missed when they searched the place. That was why she came here with her friends to investigate further, but it appeared their examination was going to be delayed shortly by a monster with tusks and the intelligence of a stupid brute who only knew how to get things via raw strength. Not that it mattered too much because they could take down a single ogre without breaking much of a sweat.

Prepared to handle it, they allowed the ogre to charge them while Rorin walked forward to hold his claymore out. The beast ran headlong into the blade that pierced its stomach, but it showed no intention of dying here. Thankfully Othros and Grora helped keep the angelic man steady while Mitchell quickly ambled by and spewed ice from his hand which froze the ogre's legs into a block of ice. Trapped with no way of escape, it attempted to grab the claymore from the angel until Grora stopped its reach with two well-timed strikes of her blades as Othros casually sauntered around in a circle to fire bolts into the beast's body. Wrenching the claymore from its torso, Mitchell swung the large sword around like a baton before driving the blade into the ogre's head, killing it instantly. "Well, that was quite a lackluster bout," he commented, pulling the blade out as Grora affirmed it was dead by sticking her scimitars through the ogre's back and slashing upwards at a diagonal. "It definitely felt like something even a novice could handle with the right equipment to take it down."

"You give the newbies too much credit," the angelic lady asserted with a laugh, pulling out the blades after chopping the ogre's heart up. "They'll need somebody to help brace themselves if attacked by one of these disgusting creatures. Thankfully they smell worse than they fight, it seems, otherwise we'd really have to worry about fighting an ogre twice our size." Sheathing the scimitars, Grora turned around and gazed at the three buildings with a bent finger to her chin. Considering a plan of how to go about their search, she thought about whether splitting up would be a good idea. Three of them would search the premises of each building, but then Hastur could stealthily murder them all one by one if he was here. The man knew how to enact guerilla tactics well, and he could be quiet as a mouse at times if it was required. No, they'd need to stay together to survive anything. "Alright," she finally declared once the light spell was recast and her friends had already regained their energy from taking down a simple opponent. "We'll stay together as we search this place for any sign of clues the original investigative team might've missed decades ago. It'll be difficult due to how old this place is and how many of us are here now, so we'll search the buildings tonight."

"What about the deeper parts of the mine?" Rorin inquired and directed the ball of light by him to go over towards that entrance and keep it lit up since they already had three lights by them. "Do you think there might be something in there? It's possible Hastur hid something in there, or a portal to wherever he came from was established. Perhaps it's what he hid there if nothing else can be found. I'd wager that's what we might locate if we were to go explore the old mining shafts."

"Perhaps, but it's late which is why we'll stick to the buildings for now and determine if a potential lead on his current plans and who he's allied with is," the angelic lady responded and led them all into the warehouse through a broken hole in one of the walls. "We'll begin in here, first."

"Next comes the church and the miners' quarters, right?" Mitchell asked to check on that.

"Yep," Grora replied as they began going down aisles of shelves with old items the miners used to use stored on them. Amongst the debris and rubble were plenty of used pickaxes, decrepit from age and on the verge of actually fading away into dust whereas others were just breaking into pieces. Construction tools and other kinds of equipment were also arrayed around the building on shelves or the floor, and even some uniforms were found among the heap of ancient mining tools. Finding nothing there on any of the shelves after doing a thorough search of each one, the group's efforts were then diverted to the floor to check for any soil and dirt that had been disturbed. Though nothing was discovered in that regard either, the four of them next set their sights on an office with but a single chair and one empty desk in it before concluding their search of the empty warehouse.

"I guess that's the warehouse then," Rorin remarked after overturning a miner's cap to look underneath it one last time before they left the building. "Which building should we look in next?"

"I'd say we should try the miners' quarters next," Grora suggested as they all sauntered out to stand in the clearing. "The place is already too wrecked to support anybody planning on sleeping there, though I wouldn't rule it out just because nobody's living inside. There's got to be clues we might be able to find in there." Saying so, she led her friends to the establishment and checked the front door to see if it was either locked or stuck. Since the latter was the case, she stepped back to kick the door in and succeeded in securing them passage through the threshold. "I see a lot of desks and nightstands in here, so we should check the drawers before looking under the mattresses. We'll even go crazy with the floorboards if possible since something might be hidden under there too."

Following her advice, the three men with her helped Grora search through all the desks for possible clues and then searched the nightstands. Nothing was present so far even when they pulled up the mattresses one by one—however many remained—so they began pulling up loose planks.

"This old shit smells bad," Mitchell commented in disgust, an opinion the others shared. "I think the miners must've brought up all kinds of smells from the mine and out in the forest."

"Pretty much anything came through here when they sought to relax," Othros spoke up and continued the conversation. "I've poked through some of the records pertaining to this place weeks ago and found they hardly had any comfortable furniture aside from beds. I bet they could've taken seats on this other stuff, though I imagine sitting or lying down on rocks and other stuff they used wouldn't solve their problems with discomfort. According to the files, this silver mine was closed down due to collapses in the tunnel that killed some of the miners and prevented them from further digging and advancement into deeper parts of the cave. Then True Light came in after the war."

"Wait, you've already been looking over this place before?" Grora inquired, unsure why it hadn't been brought up before, especially since she was part of True Light and came here with the organization. She wasn't suspicious of him because Othros was her friend, but she did wonder why he hadn't relayed that information to her or anyone else prior to coming here for their own search.

Luckily he caught her meaning and revealed the truth behind his earlier examination. "Not from within the context of why we're here now, Grora. An associate of mine asked for my help in leafing through documents of locations like this one that could be added to the list of dungeons in the Gray Garden; popular attractions for adventurers, so to speak. This place came up and we both decided to include it on the index. The name of this place—if I recall—was Dying Souls Mine."

"Grim name," Rorin commented while they flew to the second floor to begin looking there. "What, was this joint named after a ghost or something? Some kind of apparition or wraith?"

"That was the idea since this mine was rumored to be haunted by spirits," Othros replied.

"Well, we have the means to dispatch any spirits that show up," Grora commented. "We're well prepared for any variety of beast or monster that shows up to get in our way." Opening up the drawer in a desk closest to her, the angelic lady removed an old journal that must've been forgotten by whoever was here last and flipped through it. Most of the writing was illegible because of how ancient this manuscript was, yet she could make out a few words here and then in disjointed phrases and sentences that were incomplete due to the worn out parchment. Nothing too serious caught her eye, but there was one entry which made her wonder whether the cause of the mine's condemnation which the bat demon alluded to was the only problem. "Hmm…this old diary I found mentions an elusive presence within the mine, possibly one of the spirits this place is famous for. Poor guy may have been a little afraid of them, even with any guards posted here to ensure their protection would be a priority so the miners could keep working. Perhaps the ghosts didn't like them disturbing their home and had a hand in the collapse, maybe by causing explosives to go off throughout the place."

"That is one theory," Othros murmured, agreeing with her idea. "Nevertheless, we mustn't let that distract us from our own work, lest we encounter any interruptions. Better to leave the old spirits be and hope they leave us alone in turn." It was sound advice and everyone followed it, but Grora made sure to pocket the journal anyway as a gift for Froze to analyze with her coworkers.

After following the same process they used on the first floor, the group again found nothing and decided to call it quits for this building. "I guess that just leaves the church as our final location. We've not found anything in here, so I'm hoping there'll be something in there if possible," Rorin commented as they all left the miners' quarters and proceeded to the front entrance into the church. Running her hand along the mahogany double doors that were already corroding with their hinges and metallic knobs, Grora frowned and sighed as she felt nostalgic about coming here. Memories of her active participation in True Light were returning, and her brief hesitation worried her friends as the other angel spoke up to see if she was okay. "You alright, Grora? Need a short break?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm fine," Grora remarked to set them at ease. "Just remembering some things about True Light. We always had our meetings in this building and stored our weapons and armor in the warehouse until those things were collected by their owners." She sighed, letting the reminiscent memories flow over her. "Blood was spilled in here, gentlemen. A lot of it was by everyone's hands, including my own. They were all innocent people whom we believed were real traitors—turns out they weren't the treacherous liars we thought they were, but rather it was us."

"They may have been slain by your hands, Grora, but that doesn't mean the blame entirely rests on your shoulders," Mitchell said to comfort her. "Hastur was responsible for everything that happened; those murders were primarily his fault. Those who believed in him to the very end were also killed by him, if by the hands of others who granted their wish of an honorable death. He was the main perpetrator of those killings, not you. You've already atoned for them and made peace."

"I did, yes," the angelic lady agreed with him on that, knowing he spoke the truth. "Yet the other feelings I had besides the pride I felt from having served a cause I believed in are coming to me now as well. It's been decades since I last walked through this church, and I hoped to never be here again because of the emotions I used to feel which Hastur eventually shattered in the end. The feelings were good for a time and I thought they would last forever, but they were illusions to me."

"I do believe you once mentioned to us that you loved him," Othros commented since he'd been present with them for that conversation the first time she brought it up to them in the garden.

Grora tipped her head down, frowning while feeling the shame of having felt that way. She had loved Hastur in the past…but that was a long time ago and he had broken her heart. He might not have ever indicated he noticed, but the final reveal of his plans to her with his acknowledge of her feelings severed their connection for good. It was he who had called her love for him misguided and filthy, claiming her love was pitifully tainted and would never hold a place in his vision for an existence governed solely by him alone. That was the first time Hastur openly threatened to murder her if she ever went against him, threatening to put her through all kinds of torture like everybody else he and their organization put to the sword. It was the day when Grora struggled with the choice of whether she should've still followed him or not, and she had decided to turn him in after having spent another day mentally debating the morality of it. "I did love him…once, but no more." That was the end of the brief conversation they had before Grora opened her eye in determination. "Now then, let's get this search done and over with. Be ready to find anything of value, and stay prepared in case Hastur or anyone or anything else is on the other side of these doors into the church."

"We're ready when you are, Grora," Mitchell spoke up and readied his weapon and magic while Othros took up his crossbows as Rorin unsheathed his claymore. As they did so, the angelic woman unsheathed her scimitars and breathed deeply, getting ready to kick the doors in to enter.

"Alright, let's go," she declared and did just that, scowling when the four of them saw him. He had already arrived before them, and was standing in the center aisle with his own weapons at the ready. None of them were surprised to find him there, glaring directly at their appearance here.

"Grora…" Hastur murmured, gripping his twin war axes, prepared to fight them all.

Grora grimaced, also glaring at him as she seethed with well controlled anger. "Hastur…"

…

 **Well, that was quite a good reveal of Grora's old feelings for Hastur, wasn't it? To be fair, I'm not really interested in romance; however, I do acknowledge that it would be helpful to Grora's character development because it adds another facet of her that was also affected by Hastur's betrayal of her and True Light. I kind of imagine it would've been similar to the way Ivlis and Rieta had a similar bond because I think Rieta had feelings for Ivlis that he did not show for her, possibly because she was a servant as I alluded to in** _Scarves_ **. The idea of a failed relationship between Grora and Hastur which only failed because of him sounded good in my opinion due to its integration in Grora's character development, hence why I included it into the story. What do you think? Any thoughts on this concept and its role in the story?**

 **As for the class system, weapons, and armor, I imagine they would pretty much come from any kind of RPG like Elder Scrolls, Dungeons and Dragons, and World of Warcraft. It also seemed like a good idea, hence why I placed common classes wherever I could put them (apologies for not mentioning it until now). The class system I'm interested in the most comes from the Elder Scrolls series because of how versatile it is, so look to an earlier disclaimer for that. I'm not going to include other disclaimers as classes are common in many games.**

 **I looked to A Field Guide to Demons, Vampires, Fallen Angels, and Other Subversive Spirits for the Elokos in this chapter. I tried to stay close to their description in the book, but I also added a couple elements or so to them for the story so they can fit into it. According to the book, Eloko don't wear clothes or even have hair, yet their bodies are completely covered by leaves and grass respectively with eyes like fire. They seduce victims with their bells which was also associated with an unnamed death god in the entry on Elokos. A tale about them in the book tells of a hunter who left his wife alone at home while he went out to hunt, and while he did warn her to not go out or let others in, she was eventually enraptured by an Eloko. It gradually took pieces of her body to eat which she willingly provided due to being in a trance because Elokos are cannibalistic. However, the hunter eventually figured out what was going on and slew the Eloko which killed his wife in the process prior to him displaying the creature he dispatched as a warning to others of what would happen to them too as it did to him. The book also claims Elokos' spells can be warded off by specific amulets and unnamed fetishes.**

 **I've also looked to a pocket guide called Invasive Weeds of North America which was by the Waterford Press (and I'm assuming it was made by Kavanagh and Leung even though their names aren't on the pamphlet), and I've turned to National Geographic's Field Guide to Trees of North America when including the flora in this chapter of the story. As the Field Guide wasn't referenced with a disclaimer yet in this story, I'll include it here; however, I'm not going to put one up for the pocket guide because it's essentially in the same series as that other pocket guide I used in the first chapter, so the same disclaimer will cover it.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Field Guide to Trees of North America; it is owned by National Geographic. I don't own A Field Guide to Demons, Vampires, Fallen Angels, and Other Subversive Spirits; it's owned by Carol K. Mack and Dinah Mack.**


	7. Chapter Seven: VS Hastur - First Fight

"Grora…"

"Hastur…"

They both stood at opposite ends of the church as she and her friends entered to fight him. While she and the group would exercise caution and approach the conflict carefully, he would stay by his narcissistic beliefs and cast aside all manner of cautions. Pride made him cocky even if he'd never shown it, and humility opened her eyes to consider everything around her due to being blind once until she saw a light. He fought for a light that only he believed in which consisted solely of himself being the one to usher in peace, whereas she fought for another light in which she took her friends into consideration and stayed by their side without hesitation. He didn't hesitate either, but he discarded others for his own sake and that was why he faced them alone, yet they fought united.

"You came…" he commented sourly, despising the presence of someone who used to be a mere pawn in his eyes—she still was, albeit a broken one. "It's been a long time since I had to kill you for betraying your pitiful role as one of my many scapegoats, Grora. And here you are, having returned to the place where it all started once upon a time, and ended on that very same note. Allow me to ask you something before I slaughter you with your petty pack of fellow rats: do you believe, truly believe, that your betrayal was worth it? Here you are, cozying up to these demons and Fallen Angels in a tainted society. Does this filth mean anything to you after what you did against it?"

Grora narrowed her eye, disliking the way he addressed her as if he planned on this meeting being the last time she encountered him. Slowly advancing to the center aisle, she motioned with her hands and fingers for Mitchell to take the left and Rorin to the right while directing Othros up in the air. Their plan was to surround him from one side, feeling he was going to attack one of the three targets on the ground which would leave him exposed if he only went after one of them. His attacks against Mitchell would draw her in to flank him from one direction while Rorin blocked a third direction to prevent him from escaping. If he went after Rorin, Grora would do the same and Mitchell would attack him from afar while closing the gap. If he chose to assault her instead, they would follow up by performing the same strategy by closing in with magic from Mitchell. Othros' aerial assaults with his crossbows would also be mixed in from where he was flying, and if Hastur chose to make him the first target, he had to contend with the others flanking him in the fight.

Based on their formation with Grora in the center aisle and her other two friends in the side aisles while Othros held back midair, their strategy appeared successful at first glance; though the effectiveness of this plan had to be proven in order for it to truly be accomplished. By splitting up and giving Hastur several options as to who his first target was, they were also maximizing any of the consequences he would also deal with. Their angelic foe could have thrown his war axes toward two of the three on the ground before switching to his katanas to close in whether the war axes had been blocked or not. Or he could choose to fight in close combat with one of them and risk getting flanked by using the war axes first which would also risk the katanas being pulled away. Either of those scenarios seemed likely as did many others, and Grora's party was ready to deal with them.

Stepping forward with her friends as they got into position, Grora noted how decrepit their old meeting place was since it was in the same ruined condition as the other two buildings. Another thing that caught her eye was a chest where the cross, now broken and lying on the ground, had to have been when she used to be the second-in-command of True Light. It didn't appear to be his as the ogre's familiar stench radiated from the container; that must've been the chest it was guarding which the beast could've brought in here. As Othros explained when they were searching the place which had formerly been the miners' quarters, this place was now considered a dungeon. That had meant the contents of that chest consisted of loot stored by the ogre and that the chest itself must've been enchanted by magic Etihw and Kcalb used. When they had first started preparing rewards to scatter throughout dungeons via magic, they chose to store rewards in chests. The magic ensured everything was valuable and geared towards how experienced adventurers were. If somebody with a lot of experience defeated a guardian to test the person's skill, they'd get better loot than someone who wasn't as experienced as that was how the chest was tailored. These chests were enchanted to have loot respawn too, and the magic could be spread throughout the world from the castle itself.

Despite paying attention to Hastur, Grora figured he might've already looted it and hid the items within elsewhere unless he hadn't already. Thinking he might've hidden something in there instead of taking anything out, she considered checking it for clues after either routing Hastur, or killing him here. "You make it sound as if this church is going to be our grave," she commented to reply, carefully weighing which of those options was the better choice. She was told to not kill him unless it was absolutely necessary to save her friends' lives and lives of innocent people. They were to try apprehending him unless he escaped like in their last encounter decades ago after Kcalb and Wodahs wounded him before Hastur fled. That would be routing him, though they had to make the effort to at least attempt the arrest. If not, they might wound him if possible to prevent Hastur from being too much of a threat on his own, and they had the right idea to follow his trail of blood wherever he'd gone to hide and rest to potentially apply a healing spell on himself if he knew one. "But yes, my decision was worth it after I analyzed what I should've been doing instead of what I was running from. I'm friends with demons and we're better united than fighting in some pointless war that meant nothing. This peace we're sharing means more than the dreadful war ever did, and I'm glad to throw away that dark past of my mine for the sake of peace. If you claim this world's tainted, then it has only been tainted by a despicable conflict—a conflict you're keen on preserving for nothing more than a twisted ideology centered on you becoming a God to establish bad peace."

"It will be your tomb once I've finished slaughtering you all," Hastur responded to her and glared at her friends. His coldhearted stare would've usually driven others back, but it had no effect because they were determined to stop him. Nevertheless, he entertained the group with the rest of his reply to Grora. "You're wrong, Grora, there was only one right answer to my crucial inquiry."

"Yeah, whatever you say is correct, you narcissistic bastard," she spat out at him, applying some venom to her voice even if it wasn't as much as what she heard Macarona use on others like Reficul. "Go ahead, claim our unity is corrupted and all that horseshit you keep babbling about as if it was the ultimate truth because we've got news for you, Hastur: it's not since the only truth we can extrapolate from this problem is you being an arrogant dipshit who thinks only about himself."

"That's your pitiful excuse of a statement?" he chided her bitterly, tightening his grip since her disdain and refusal to know her place infuriated him. However, he didn't outright attack them; he didn't want to just yet because she did make a point at first. "But you are right about one thing, Grora: that anything I alone say is correct. Look at the society around you, Grora, and see how it's all gone to hell already with angels and demons having made peace. This is not peace, it's only an elaborate lie fabricated to trick people into believing it so the demons and Fallen Angels can seize power for themselves. This world is corrupt because of that and also due to the fact nobody in this putrid filth wants to fight evil and be lazy just like in other worlds that don't take the initiative. I'll destroy those other worlds as well because the heavens don't take the initiative, and the hells have done nothing but be evil simply because they're full of demonic scum led by disgusting Devils."

"Speak for yourself," Mitchell spoke up on behalf of his friends and their world. "You say our civilization is corrupt since our people made peace despite your claim that demons like myself and Mitchell are liars. Yet the irony is that you're the only one here who's corrupt and has lied to his followers all for the sake of assassinating Etihw and Kcalb so you could assume her role and become a God to challenge other deities. You've even planned on slaughtering your followers."

"You're on to talk, _demon_ ," Hastur spat back at him, emphasizing that last word with some poisonous venom in his voice. "So what if my goal all along was to slaughter both of those curs?"

"Let me guess:" Rorin chimed in and carefully approached, making sure his movements in the aisle assigned to him were in sync with the other two on the ground, "you could care less what other people think and say so long as you fulfill that objective by any means necessary. That's it?"

"Exactly," the antagonistic angel barked at him, beginning to pace the space he was in back and forth while explaining his already obvious motive. "This whole existence is mad, and I'm the only individual sane enough to put an end to its misery by torturing every single other individual due to them being imperfect and full of nothing but shit. That bitch always was a terrible Goddess, always caring for others when they only deserved to be slaughtered so I alone could advance since I am the only individual in existence ordained solely by myself alone to usher in peace—my peace, not some bullshit unity between angels and demons because that is nothing but a lie you all made."

"Just like the unity between True Light," Othros remarked to continue their conversation a bit longer while setting his sights on Hastur with a clear shot on his position. If he choose to fire a bolt or two now, he'd force the angel to abandon his post by dodging and taking the fight to them. However, he knew well enough that they could not make a move unless he did. It was a precaution they all took against him. "Calling the entirety of existence mad, eh? Not to insult my species, but I believe you're batshit insane for thinking that perfection can only be achieved by you because of everyone else being imperfect. Etihw's a great Goddess, and she makes a far better deity than you."

"She doesn't as I alone am perfection, and thus I deserve to be the God of Existence so the peace I'll bring to my new existence when I create it can flourish as the existence we live in now—this putrid existence—rots in a hell that shall not exist because I will destroy it before creating my existence as a paradise in which true peace shall emerge and thrive under me alone as I say so."

"Therefore you deserve to burn in that hell first before you can take anyone else with you," Grora declared, readying her scimitars for a fight since she knew he'd resist arrest. "Hastur, as the captain leading these fine men on this mission, I hereby invest my authority to have you arrested."

"You would dare inhibit peaceful perfection by apprehending me, Grora?" Hastur inquired, growing bored with this distasteful discussion with them. "You claim my vision is criminal?"

"Spare us any further monologues and just accept your fate, Hastur," she demanded curtly without bothering to entertain his questions with answers because talking to him was like speaking to a brick wall—a very stupid brick wall that persistently believed in becoming greater. "You shall be put on trial for your crimes in the past and for having the audacity to even come back after what you've done. Hence why we shall apprehend you now; come quietly to face justice, or we shall be swiftly dealing it unto you first prior to dragging your sorry ass to Lady Etihw and Sir Devil."

"So what'll it be:" Rorin gave him the two ultimatums, "be arrested quietly, or forcefully?"

"Neither," Hastur commented, thinking about his first move against them. "Unlike you all, I shall not even give you fools a choice because you're unworthy of even being given options that will ultimately decide your fate. After all, the one who determines that…" He paused midway with his last sentence, throwing his arms up to chuck the war axes at Rorin and Mitchell as if the things were boomerangs. "…is me!" Unsheathing his katanas, Hastur charged right at Grora and held the weapons at a diagonal to lash out at his former second-in-command. Thankfully she was ready for it already and blocked the strikes with her scimitars, lifting her right leg up to kick her former boss in the stomach to knock him off balance. Yet he too anticipated this and leapt up, somersaulting in the air backwards before landing and contending with two strikes of her own by parrying them.

While midair, he caught sight of what happened to his war axes. The one he threw at Rorin was smashed into pieces by the claymore, and Mitchell used a bit of wind magic to catch the other and wield it on a gust. Holding his blade made of air in one hand and preparing an ice shard in the other, the monkey demon fired a bolt at Hastur as he was somersaulting. The attack missed as did the bolts Othros shot at him, and the two men on either side of him were charging over the broken pews to surround him as he parried Grora's attacks. The angelic woman showed no mercy with all the blows she attempted to deal upon him, aiming only for weak points on his cuirass to hopefully damage it. Yet he continued to block and parry while also aiming for her cuirass' own weak spots too, but luckily Rorin made it behind Hastur to swing the claymore down on him. Whirling around and parrying another of Grora's strikes, he attempted to stab the angelic warrior when he was kept from following through with the thrust by an ice shield Mitchell conjured up to protect his friend.

"Your cooperation makes you soft," Hastur uttered and leapt out of the three pronged attack before dashing to his left for an attempt at the crossbowman shooting bolts at him. They were quite annoying to him by causing small explosions of fire damage that acted as mines. Had Mitchell not spread an entire patch of ice over the whole floor, what was left of the church would've caught on fire and burned with all of them in it. Fortunately, he and his friends were well aware of the matter and were quite able to make use of it by either flying or ice skating on it as they had practiced with the talent many times so they could get used to fighting on it. "And it will lead to your downfall."

"You're wrong, Hastur!" Grora shouted and immediately charged his backside while Rorin charged past their foe when he stopped to turn around and deal with her, somersaulting again since he had to avoid the bolts. Realizing that the third angel in the church had gotten behind him, Hastur once again parried more strikes from the angelic woman and blocked a blow from the other's blade prior to dodging a burst of air which shot up from underneath him. "There's strength in unity!"

"As if. You're all so pitifully weak you have to outnumber me, cowards," he insulted them.

"True, I'll admit we could've come with a larger force," Othros conceded that much to the man who would've only considered it tomfoolery. "Nevertheless, there is strength in numbers, the kind of strength you have used to your advantage in the past, Hastur. Ironic, isn't it?" He had made a good point, one the narcissistic angel scoffed at because he saw others as nothing more than tools he could wield to advance his own goals of ushering in peace to the existence he planned to make.

"You fools will never understand the value of another; others are mere pawns others make use of. What of Etihw?" he inquired, parrying and dodging more sword strikes before he suddenly teleported in front of Othros to try and take him down. Yet the bat demon expected this and kicked the katana that struck out at him to flip up to the wall by the circular window near the ceiling. With that move, he also fired more crossbow bolts at Hastur which were avoided when the angel warped away again to try taking on Rorin. "What good has she ever done? She called you her followers in the war," he was referring to his current target and Grora with that comment, "but really, did Etihw even do anything for you aside from sitting in her office, managing administrational affairs? When did she ever fight the demons she despised back then? Why did she let a few demons escape death? How is it that those demons managed to actually gain her favor instead of being put to the sword?" He had raised one katana to strike the claymore and attempted to thrust with the other, though the other angelic man weaved aside and attempted to shove Hastur off balance when he warped again.

"Because those demons actually made an impression on her," Rorin remarked, favoring its truth because of who the demons Etihw came to respect were. "A favorable impression since they possessed virtues—or came to possess virtues—that impressed Lady Etihw. They weren't like the other demons they fought alongside with, having showed compassion and chivalry for others."

"They were demons; therefore, they were—and still are—liars," Hastur countered from the other side of the church where he warped over to fight Mitchell. He tried to knock the war axe out of the air and evidently succeeded in doing so. His plan was to grip a katana in his teeth and wield the war axe in one hand alongside the other katana, though before he secured his weapon, it was frozen by a spell of ice magic the monkey demon used to freeze it solid while Rorin rushed over and smashed it into pieces before blocking more strikes from their foe while lashing out as well.

"I don't think so, Hastur," Mitchell commented while he applied a defensive spell on Grora to temporarily improve her defenses as she entered the fray from behind their foe to strike him. As he did so, the spellsword moved to a position between the three of them and Othros to keep Hastur pinned down on one side of the church while the crossbowman attempted to get a good shot at the antagonistic angel. "You'll not be using that amongst your arsenal anytime soon once again." His comment was an allusion to the destroyed war axe which made Hastur grimace disdainfully as he teleported out of the fray once again before reappearing behind Mitchell to make a second dash to Othros in the hopes of quelling the long ranged fighter so he could focus better on fighting them.

"Tch!" Hastur didn't like how the battle was going because it wasn't in his favor. He came to this world and established the portals as instructed, and he wasn't going to let his allies consider arriving sooner than expected at this moment to steal the glory that was rightfully his. He especially didn't like having been given the order to hold back from fighting and to try not dying off so soon before their plans to fruition without him. That was why he hadn't been fighting to his fullest in this conflict, though another reason was because this squad he went up against was quite skilled—not that he would admit it, of course. Had he been unrestrained through orders bequeathed to him by the God he now served, he would've slaughtered them all instantly. Had that God known defeat when they fought instead of him, he would be in a much better position of authority over him now.

Rushing towards the bat demon with the intention of killing him first, Hastur never tried to dodge the bolts this time and let them sink into his body. In spite of the pain flowing through him, his arms feeling a bit numb due to having been struck in those limbs by several bolts, he managed to reach Othros before the others could get to him and attempted to thrust one of his katanas out to pierce the crossbowman's heart. However, Othros yet again proved he anticipated the attack since he had also fired at the window to shatter it so he could fly out to stay out of reach. Hastur realized he would run out of room at one point and sped up on purpose to force him to the cavernous wall. "Go to Hell!" he shouted in anger, no longer having the tolerance for letting this fight go on as the opponents he faced already gained the upper hand on him temporarily. With this demon's death, a possible victory could be achieved. "Burn in the light of true justice and angelic might, demon!"

"I think not." With that said, Othros holstered his crossbows momentarily and immediately caught Hastur off guard by thrusting himself forward to seize the katana by the blade. He did it on purpose, surprising his foe by gripping it with such force that it left the angel's arm immobilized.

"Dammit, let go!" Although he tried to free himself and slash the bat demon, Othros pulled another trick by turning his back to Hastur and flying backwards into the angel towards the ground at a speed leaving his foe unable to strike back. Their combined impact against the dirt forced him to release the katana just as Hastur did while Rorin arrived just in time to kick the blade away from them both while Hastur warped away after Othros somersaulted off him to unsheathe his weapons.

With only one katana in his hand and the other currently being frozen by Mitchell so Rorin could smash it into pieces as he did with the war axes—how he broke the first one was incredible, a feat which only served to show how strong the angelic man was—Hastur glanced around at those three while they readied themselves for an assault. Although Hastur could escape through into the forest since his back was to that direction, his orders were to flee through the portal established in the mine shaft once he was finished setting the rest up in other parts of this region. Watching Rorin ready his claymore and take the front with Mitchell supporting him while Othros stood behind the two of them with his crossbows at the ready, he kept his eyes on them and wondered where Grora could've gone. Surely she had come out with them as well to continue the fight, but where did—

"Looking for me?" came her voice from behind him as she quickly put a scimitar up to his throat and held it there. Her eye was narrowed in anger, yet her gaze was calm and collected, very much like how she composed herself now. She could've killed him here if she wanted to, but Kcalb had told her not to slay Hastur unless absolutely necessary if she was to protect her friends and an innocent party of civilians this man was threatening—not that any were around here as it was just the five of them. Grora could feel Hastur grimace, madder than he was getting during their conflict. Nevertheless, she maintained her cool demeanor and attempted to interrogate him now while they apprehended him. "It's over, Hastur; you're under arrest. Tell us who you're working with and we shall see about litigating for a lesser punishment on your behalf; otherwise you'll receive full—"

"What makes you think I'd cooperate willingly with a bunch of Fallen Angels and demons? Like hell I'd ever consent to be your prisoner," he retorted bitterly, hating the fact he lost to them.

Grora didn't even smile when she answered his inquiry, unpleasant as it was even with that remark about him refusing to quietly comply with their arrest of him. "Because I know you better than anyone, Hastur." Her voice was tinged with bitter irritation, though she controlled herself well despite realizing he could teleport behind her and make use of the same maneuver she held him in on her. That was why she held her other scimitar at the ready in case he did so she could protect herself at a moment's notice. He also realized she and her friends had the advantage over him due to their skills and his orders; despite underestimating them, he could withdraw by warping behind the other three. Continuing the fight to an unnecessary length would only irk the God allied to him, and he wasn't in the mood to listen to another one of his lectures, or admit defeat to them as Grora went on speaking. "You've not been fighting to your fullest. Holding back was a mistake on your part, and don't think we had not noticed it. I especially observed the way you fought us and came to that conclusion, and I'm aware my friends arrived at the same exact conclusion too. We know for a fact you're hiding something: the identity of the deity you're allied to now and work with."

"Really?" he asked sarcastically and glared at her position behind him without turning his head since he only had to move his eyes. "You're all sadly mistaken, I would never work with any fools for as long I'd live. They're a hindrance to me and my plans. I don't need others to help me."

"True, you may disregard others and discard them as you see fit so you yourself can further your own advancement at their expense, regardless of whether they're your allies or not," came an astute observation from Grora, ensuring he would at least cut himself on the scimitar pressed onto his neck if he even tried to warp out from her grasp. "On the flipside, others can deal the very same treatment to you. You've been called off in front of me last time we met, and I could tell you were unhappy with it because the summons or whatever it was prevented you from killing me. I'm aware that somebody else—a deity and angels since you won't work with Devils and demons—is behind your actions here, and believe me, we're already investigating this region and others for portals."

Hastur grimaced, frowning in rage because he couldn't believe they figured it out by now. Even if they didn't know the identity of the God he was forced to work with, or the fact he worked with a male deity—ergo, the identity being a God—they could possibly come to some theories on which deity would possibly invade the Gray Garden. Even so, he wouldn't give up the God's name to them not just because he was ordered not to, but mainly due to the fact he despised these people.

"We also know you're possibly going to escape from us and that you were probably going to do so already even before you engaged us in combat," Grora continued to make her point, having reached the end of her explanation. "Unfortunately for you, Hastur, that was your mistake. Taking all four of us on and holding back—probably to avoid further attention if possible—led to this, the second downfall you've experienced. Then again, I could probably say it's your third in the event you've lost to whichever deity you're now most likely serving instead of working with. Am I right in assuming that, Hastur, or do you think you can take on a deity alone by yourself without aid?"

"I don't need help bringing down a deity, I can do it all by myself," he responded, knowing fully well that it was something of a childish remark despite sticking to his narcissistic pride.

"You wish, I'm aware you were the second best candidate for Commander-in-Chief of the angels' complete military force until Rigatona kicked your ass in a duel by easily wiping the floor with you. Besides, Lady Etihw and Sir Devil are also far superior to you in strength and power, as is the Head Angel," his former second-in-command stated, using that logic as her rationality to see if she could disprove his comment. As a matter of fact, she was right about that. "Face it, you were unfortunate enough to get caught; revealing yourself to me earlier today was a huge mistake."

For once Hastur didn't even argue with that, calmly shutting his eyes. "Was it a mistake?" Letting her ponder what he meant by that, but not allowing her the opportunity to comment on that question, he warped out of her grasp to make good of his escape. Before he fled, however, Hastur attempted to thrust his remaining weapon in Othros' back when he reappeared behind him. Caught off guard for a moment, Othros leapt forward and whirled around to try and shoot the angel away. However, their foe already made good use of the tables turning in his favor to kill at least one foe, particularly a demon, and he seized the opportunity to do so by gripping the katana with two hands and raising both arms up. Pointing his elbows and legs back, he then immediately thrust his weapon forward. "Let this death be a lesson and message to this pitiful world, Grora!" he shouted angrily.

Yet his attack never connected because at that moment he was forced to pull back and warp away towards the entrance of the mine shaft when two tridents—black and white—suddenly came down on him out of nowhere when two additional fighters joined the fray to intervene for the allies they arrived for to help on their behalf. The smoke cleared from the area after it rose up from where the tridents struck, dust dissipating in the air to reveal two girls in school-like uniforms. Their ears perked up at the sound of Hastur teleporting to the mine shaft, and they just smiled. Happy to have shown up in the nick of time, the cat demons shut their eyes and cheered. "Arbus and Ater, ready for duty!" they called out playfully and saluted nobody in particular—if they had turned to Grora for that instead of facing the direction their target stood in, that gesture would be directed towards her or one of the guys she brought with her. "Ready for duty, Ater and Arbus!" The kitties giggled prior to opening their eyes to face down Hastur with their tridents pointed at him to join the fight.

Although she was welcome for the aid, Grora scowled because she couldn't believe the cat demons were their backup. Clenching her fists in anger, still gripping her scimitars, the angel was feeling so enraged at their interruption that she adamantly refused help from Ater and Arbus. "Hey, what the hell are you two doing here?! This was our mission not yours!" she yelled disdainfully at them, catching their attention with the tone of her voice and how loud it was when she shouted. "It isn't your place to butt in when we've already got this covered by now! We did most of the work!"

"But Mr. Othros would've died," Ater commented, confused and slightly sad that they were being refused the opportunity to help. Her feelings were shared by Arbus who parroted the remark.

"Yes, Mr. Othros would've died," she stated in their adorable mannerism.

"You have my thanks, girls," the bat demon said with a smile to show his appreciation for their rescue of him. "Had you not shown up at this critical moment, I really could've been injured."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on a second!" Grora cried out in anger. "Just who authorized the idea of you two coming here?! You're not even useful to us when we've had this under control!"

"Mr. Wodahs did," Arbus answered her and smiled whimsically, her tone of voice coming across as kind of sarcastic in a way as if she was intending to playfully tease Grora for mentioning that one of her superiors thought she'd need backup. While the thought was nice and the angel did appreciate it even though she felt he did it to prove himself better than her, Grora steadfastly went against the idea of them coming to her aid for two reasons: one, she and her friends already handled this matter surprisingly well since Hastur held back; and two, their help came from the cat demons.

"Yes, Mr. Wodahs was worried you all might require assistance and we volunteered for it. That is why we have shown up when we did to help bring the target down for arrest and additional interrogation," Ater chimed in with a small frown, trying to act professional in this situation. Grora so wanted to sock Ater in the mouth, eyes, and stomach for having even mentioned they willingly made volunteers of themselves for backup against Hastur. Hell, she was even considering allowing him to cut her down in cold blood—it would certainly be a step towards being perceived favorable in her view for eliminating the cat demon on her behalf, so she could possibly use Hastur for that.

"Whatever, look, aside from Othros possibly dying due to that asshole teleporting there, it wasn't much of a problem fighting this guy to begin with this time," she retorted back to them due to getting all worked up over the cat demons' interference. "We've had it covered without you two or any other help up to this point, so let us finish the job and head back to report back on progress." Despite wanting to get them out of the way so she wouldn't let her rage be directed towards them, Grora realized now wasn't the best time for inflicting some serious wounds on Ater and Arbus. A wise decision on her part regarding their presence, and she was bound to put a word in with Kcalb and Wodahs about not sending these rotten girls to aid in the capture of a prime threat in the future. Still, they were a nuisance and the kitties would be even more of a distraction because she couldn't concentrate on hurting them and Hastur at the same time; only one matter at a time had to be taken care of, so the angelic lady mentally scheduled an upcoming beating for them in a mental calendar.

"Come now, Grora, they're already here, so we might as well let them assist us," Rorin had suggested, never taking his eyes of Hastur who had been watching the interaction to study it. "They are good girls and skilled combatants, so our chances of success will increase with their help."

"Like hell I'm letting them mess this up!" the angelic woman spat out when they all caught sight of Hastur turning tail and sprinting into the mine shaft with Ater and Arbus in close pursuit.

"Get him!" the kitties cried out playfully as they chased after their prey, changing into their cat forms for a quicker hunt. They were fast as the cat demons appeared to be hot on his trail. Even so, that in of itself didn't mean they'd be able to catch Hastur because he would fight back against them. That was why Grora's friends all began to join in and provide support to them, and although Grora really did want to kick Hastur's ass in combat and attempt to take him down to either arrest or kill him, Othros held back momentarily for a few moments to prevent her from going further.

"Hey, Othros, what the hell, man?" she asked, incredulous as to why he stopped her.

"Listen to me for a second, Grora, and don't argue with me on this," he rationalized a point he was making to her. "I know you hate Hastur as much as the next guy, but I also know you hate Ater and Arbus—specifically Ater. To prevent the risk of you going off against her by losing your cool and attempting to kill both Hastur and her, I suggest you be the one who reports back. While you were indeed promised to be the one who defeats him, we already have the man on the ropes a good deal because he's holding back. This may seem an overly optimistic, and dare I say blindingly foolish, perspective, though allow us to proceed with caution on this matter. Do you understand?"

Grora pouted, disliking being told off from a duty only she could do because she seriously needed the self-redemption. "Yeah, I understand, but I really need to get this guy, alright, Othros?"

"I know, but we don't want to take the risk of you going off against the kitties for helping. Henceforth, I believe you must take a break from this because I'm well aware of how taxing letting him live to be arrested can be for you. Don't worry, we've got the situation in good hands and can keep it under control. If Hastur does manage to flee, hopefully he'll lead us to the portal so we can close it and prevent any additional invasive threats from this area. Wish us good luck, Grora."

Not wanting to argue with his logic, Grora sighed because she felt he had a point. "Alright, very well, good luck to you guys. Try to arrest him if you can, and if not, close the portal if you've been led right to it. However, just try to ascertain where it might go if necessary before returning."

Othros smiled and saluted her. "Understood, and to ensure whoever enters gets out safely, I shall go in myself to take a quick peek inside and exit right away to avoid attracting attention."

Grora nodded with the protocol. "Excellent, a wise decision. Move out."

"Right away." With that said, the two of them parted; Othros to follow everyone else in the pursuit of Hastur, and Grora to report back. However, before taking her leave of the mine, she had gone back into the church to investigate the chest that ogre guarded before Hastur appeared to take over the role of its protector. Walking up to it, also noticing now that the door into the far back of the building was blocked by debris—Hastur and the fight against him had taken up her focus which was why it hadn't registered to her then—Grora checked the lock and found it broken. Whether it was like that to begin with, or unless Hastur really did open it was left up to what she found inside.

"Alright, jackass," she muttered under her breath, making sure to insult her former boss as she spoke, "let's see what you might be hiding in here, eh?" After checking to make sure the chest wasn't booby-trapped, Grora cautiously pulled up the lid and checked the contents within. Garbage stuffed the container full—ogres were never organized after all—but a few items were of interest: a satchel of gold and an enchanted shortsword. Unable to determine what kind of enchantment it was, Grora figured she'd take it and the gold back with her; the blade would go right to an appraiser who could inform her of what the enchantment was. However, what caught her interest more was a map of the region Gray Village and Blancblack Castle were located in, and she was surprised to find it already had several marks on it. Despite the fact she couldn't really grasp what purpose this was for, Grora had two theories: one, it was a treasure map with locations of other dungeons shown on it; two, Hastur left behind the map showing where all the portals were. Her gut told her it was the latter, so she took it as well to show Etihw and Kcalb when she returned to the castle at once.

Had he placed it there on purpose, or by accident? Either way, Grora would think about the problem later. For now, she had to return to Blancblack Castle and report on how the mission went. Strangely enough, it had been a lot smoother than it had been rough because Hastur held back.


	8. Chapter Eight: A Deal with a Lich

The sound of his footsteps sprinting through the mine like a ninja—a class he encountered in other worlds he traveled to when in search of a heaven he could utilize for his goals—echoed in the shaft as he traveled down several corridors, twists, and turns. Avoiding these girls took quite a lot of skill, an ability he had not possessed due to viewing magic as something beyond his control. Although the only spell he bothered learning was a minor teleportation spell enabling him to warp short distances away, Hastur hadn't bothered on improving the ability any further than needed due to his preference for melee combat only. Like all warriors of a world he formerly referred to as his home before it changed into a different form he came to hate more than the old version of it, Hastur was in favor of melee combat despite sometimes using his war axes as boomerangs in some cases. He held great disdain for long range attacks because they could potentially miss the intended target, and he disliked magic because it could possibly fall under the control of another individual with a similar set of abilities akin to who he or she stole the power from originally. Only his own weapons would do, but now three of them were smashed with only one of the two katanas remaining.

Going down another corridor, having memorized the path to where the first portal the God made was before Hastur went on to establish the locations of other areas to open them up—and to his own credit, conveniently leaving behind a map of where those portals were so this world along with the God's heaven could wipe each other out—he looked back at the two demons behind him. They were the cat demons whom had interrupted his attempt to murder that bat demon back there, Ater and Arbus by the names they both appeared to go by even though he didn't care who the two of them were. Although they were not as fast as he was, therefore being unable to catch up, Arbus and Ater actually managed to stay on his tracks and keep him in sight regardless of how far ahead he was. The fact they remained in their animal forms helped them keep up because the loss of their humanoid weight meant they could maintain a good distance away from him. It was pretty amazing how they could morph into those forms even with their weapons and stay on his metaphorical tail.

Knowing the chamber where the first portal was coming up soon, Hastur planned on using his skills with just one katana to try and knock them unconscious so he could drop them into a pit. Fortunately for him, one was located in the very chamber next to a waterfall pouring down into it. While the sound of that waterfall could draw attention from Grora's party if they managed to keep up as well by following the scent of catnip emanating from the kitties pursuing him, the angel was willing to bet they'd prioritize these demons' safety first because they were fools who cared for an assortment of ideas he considered to be meaningless and unworthy of being applied to himself. He could make out the threshold into that chamber now as a matter of fact from a rickety bridge Hastur had to fly over to avoid the risk of it breaking if he ran across it. Cutting the loose ropes of it behind him as he flew, he let the thing fall to the ground because it would hopefully prevent one of them, the monkey demon, from getting across unless his associates carried him over the large gap.

Running down a stable incline, aware of the fact these cat demons also had wings because he saw those parts of their bodies before back at the abandoned settlement set up in the upper level of the mine prior to entering the shaft proper, the angel watched them change back into humanoids.

"You won't escape now!" Ater chirped, wielding her black trident with a few white circles on it while Arbus parroted the phrase in that particular mannerism the two of them seemed to use. It was one trait he noticed while examining them, arriving at the conclusion they were twin sisters.

"Now you won't escape!" the other cat demon repeated while following him to the chamber after he entered it. Of course, that was what they thought because Hastur warped out upon entering and reappeared directly in front of them when they came in too. Holding the katana in his left hand, he delivered a horizontal slash at their necks to try and decapitate them. He was taller than the two of them which was why he could reach there, but Ater blocked the blade with her trident while her twin sister, Arbus, thrust her white trident with black circles similar to the three on her sister's on it. "Take this!" she cried out in excitement, enjoying the brawl even though he dodged the attack.

Unfortunately, he had moved right into the range of another thrust from Ater as she brought her own trident back to perform the same maneuver. Bending over backwards and doing a backflip to kick Arbus' trident up into the air, Hastur avoided the piercing blow and immediately rushed to punch the white haired cat demon in the stomach. His attack was successful somewhat even if his intended target was wrong. Instead of making contact with her stomach, he actually hit Arbus' leg when she jumped on Ater's shoulders when her sister bent her legs to lower herself slightly because she wanted to help her sister leap up into the air and catch the white trident. The attack startled her as Arbus lost her balance due to lifting that leg up and wobbling unstably, mewing as she'd begun to fall sideways towards Hastur. Raising his blade up to strike her with it, his plan of piercing the black haired cat demon failed when Ater swung her trident at the blade to knock it away. Although she failed to disarm him because his grip was firm, she nevertheless successfully caught her sister and helped Arbus regain her balance as the white trident hit the ground near them both.

Having warped away momentarily before suddenly appearing behind Ater, Hastur made a quick attempt to slash at her with a back handed move aimed at the mid-portion of her torso. Even so, Arbus quickly pushed her sister down with one hand and leapfrogged over Ater to punch Hastur in the face and make him retreat. While her fist did manage to connect with him, he teleported out of range right away when the kitty lunged for him with both arms outstretched at her sides. Unable to grab him and then lift him up prior to bashing his head on the ground behind her by falling back on purpose, Arbus lurched forward off balance and slipped on her trident. Falling flat onto her face while their foe began grappling with Ater, she pushed herself into a kneeling position and rubbed her eyes before returning to the fray with the trident in hand. She shot it forward and tried to thrust it towards his legs to make Hastur stumble off balance, but he heard her running towards him and warped again. This time it was Ater who lost her balance because Arbus' assault made her stumble and trip over her own feet, falling to the ground as Hastur reappeared by the pit feet behind him.

"Some opponents you two are, _demons_ ," he scoffed at them, having spat out the insult with venom on the last word. "You call that fighting; bah, more like wretches playing with poor toys."

"Is your weapon a toy, Mister?" Arbus inquired in a sarcastically playful tone of voice and pointed at the katana, evidently mocking him and his own weapon on purpose to make fun of him.

"It does look like a toy, Arbus," Ater remarked to join in on the teasing, shutting her eyes. "Can we play with it too once we apprehend him, Arbus?" she giggled at the thought of her idea.

"We can play with it too once we apprehend him, Ater," her sister answered whimsically.

"Then we could play with our new toy!" they both happily chirped in unison.

Aware that the pit was behind him, Hastur thought of a tactic he could use to his advantage. If he could make these girls charge right towards him, he could warp behind them both and knock the cat demons off balance once they stumbled to the edge. That would surely make them fall into the pit below. "You want this?" he challenged them, not even bothering to entertain the demons in front of him with a smile because he wasn't going to stoop to their level. "Come and take it then."

They smiled. "With pleasure!" the two of them replied, eager to acquire the katana for their own devices with it. Hastur didn't care what they would've used it for, though it was his weapon. Watching as they both began to charge him as expected, he observed Arbus leap up into the air as Ater lurched forward on purpose despite managing to maintain her balance. Smiling, she gave her twin—who was also grinning widely—a boost as the black haired cat demon leapt in the air while beginning to dive towards Hastur with her trident thrusting forward. It got stuck in the ground and he dodged it either way by hopping back, taking care to dodge her when she swung around on the weapon to kick him. However, she also made sure to press her feet against Ater's back on purpose to send her sister forward and give her more momentum via the sisterly boost she provided to Ater. That enabled the white haired cat demon to lunge for Hastur and spear him with the black trident, though he avoided that too with the same movement. His plan worked since it bore fruit when Ater tripped over her feet again by missing him. Stumbling to the edge and crying out while teetering on one leg, Ater lost her balance and tried to regain it while Hastur warped behind her and smashed the hilt of his katana over her head. The blow nearly knocked her unconscious, but she was awake.

"Ater!" Arbus shrieked her twin's name and attempted to rush forward and seize her hand when the other girl tried to whirl around in a futile attempt to regain her balance. However, a piece of the ledge beneath Ater's foot collapsed as she sprained her ankle while beginning to slip off the edge. She screamed and tried to flap her wings, but Hastur had teleported above her and flew down so the heel of his right foot could connect with her face. Somersaulting, his foot impacted her face and he used Ater as a stepping stone so he could leap up and fly over Arbus to go behind her since he planned to try pushing her into the pit as well with her sister. Yet Arbus unexpectedly turned to face him instead of saving Ater since her sister had already begun to fall into the abyss, and Arbus believed he would pursue them since they would've been disorientated by the fall. She observed a waterfall in the background pouring into the pit, and hoped to god Ater landed in it safely, even if her sister got wet in the process. Still, it was better than being hurt by a much harder landing.

Determined to drive him off so she could go aid Ater, Arbus put up one hell of a fight until the others arrived to find her swinging and thrusting at Hastur while parrying his blows. "You big meanie!" she shouted angrily, unaware they had shown up and was in between them and their foe which prevented Othros from getting a shot in. Although Mitchell and Rorin attempted to help her defeat him, she wouldn't let either of them get in her way. "You could've killed Ater, you bastard!" Taking one more swing at him before attempting a final thrust, she missed because Hastur leapt in the air and flew backwards high above the pit while Othros fired a few rounds of bolts at him. She screamed with that last attack, furious that she had failed to save her sister because of him, knowing he was guilty and now feeling so enraged she wanted to actually kill him instead of letting him get away. "I will slaughter you for this, you hear me?! You are so dead, you little punk jerk-face!"

"As if, you couldn't even kill me with her," he retorted coldly. "Took them long enough."

"Sorry we're late to the party, though Grora couldn't make it this time," Rorin apologized.

Hastur snorted, dissatisfied with his former second-in-command for not having the gall to finish the conflict. Had he known she was told to head back ahead of them to prevent her from losing her cool, the belief would've been different than the preconception. Even so, he wouldn't have cared either way because it didn't matter to him regardless of what his thoughts were on the matter. "Like all cowards, she turns her tail and runs away," he commented, blind to the irony of him withdrawing despite being unafraid of them and the God. A golden portal opened behind him and he flew through before the opening sealed itself. "Know this, filth of this disgusting world: the time to purge this world from existence is coming, and there'll be nothing you can do about it."

Watching the portal close behind him, Mitchell stepped forward and swore under his breath because he was frustrated at the fact Hastur got away with the portal already sealed. "Dammit, that dirty rat escaped before we could acquire further information." Without information, it appeared a new threat was on the horizon and they couldn't do much about it but be prepared for the worst.

"It may not be all bad," Othros remarked and stepped forward to look at where the portal's presence had been. "Mitchell, do you think you could possibly reopen the portal based on the time it's been present here, both open and closed? Although it might be difficult locating it because you are a demon trying to reconstruct an opening to what may be a heaven, it just might be possible."

"I can try, though I can't guarantee results."

"That's fine, and I'll go through it as I informed Grora before I caught up to you guys."

"With all due respect, Othros, I believe it should be me going through it if Mitchell gets an opening working," Rorin commented and put forth his reasoning why that was a possible idea. "If this place is most likely a heaven, I might have better luck staying alive. Granted, there may be an assortment of guards on the other side who might recognize I'm from the Gray Garden and attack me because I'd be an enemy to them. I'd even go as far to say I'd be a Fallen Angel in their eyes."

Othros shut his eyes to ponder the chances of success in that matter if Mitchell managed to reopen the portal. Placing a bent finger to his chin, the bat demon weighed his options before going with Rorin's suggestion. "That's true, you do have a point. As a demon, I'd stand out instantly. It's a valid argument, though I'd still like to go with you for backup. Mitchell," he turned to speak with the spellsword, "you should remain here to close the portal once we come out. If I fire a single bolt through it, take that as a sign we won't be able to make it back and shut it immediately, okay?"

"As much as I don't want to, if that's what you'd like for to do, alright. Just try to return in one piece as best you can," Mitchell remarked to give them both his best wishes before beginning to prepare an incantation to try reconstructing the entrance to what may have been an otherworldly heaven. However, he was interrupted by a push from Arbus who stormed over to them to interject.

"And what about Ater?!" she shouted, tears pouring down her face. "We have to save her! That jerk knocked her down that abyss and I tried to help her, but he would not even let me!" That being said, they all whirled in the direction of something collapsing from down there and she sped over to the edge and got on her hands and knees to peer down into the darkness. "ATER!" she had cried out loud, raising her voice to try and discern if her twin sister was alright or not. "ATER!" It was no good because she still didn't receive an answer, yet Arbus didn't give up. "ATER! ATER!"

"On second thought, I believe you'd best go help Arbus look for Ater and see if she's okay, or not," Rorin commented as he looked at Othros and nodded at him and Mitchell. "I'll remain up here with Mitchell to wait for the portal to be constructed if possible. Hand me a crossbow and I'll fire the bolt if I'm unable to make it back safely." Holding his hand out, he accepted one from his friend. "Don't worry, I still remember how to fire it like you showed me. I'll hold it carefully."

"Alright, be safe and good luck to you, Rorin," Othros remarked and stepped forward since he wanted to give the angel a good hug which Mitchell joined in on it in case Rorin couldn't make it out. With that said, the bat demon quickly ambled over to the pit and peered down it before he'd begun to flap his wings. "Now then, Arbus," he said and started flying down into it with her. "Let's go find your sister. I'm sure she'll be around here somewhere, and I hope she'll be okay." Although he really did hope Ater was alright, he couldn't deny the possibility she was either injured or dead. Yet he would never voice that thought in front of Arbus, not when she was this terrified for Ater.

Arbus swallowed heavily, desperately wishing Ater was alive and well. "Y-yes, let's!"

…

Her cries echoed throughout the tunnels she sped through in the rapid water gushing into a cavernous system underground that was bringing her further and further away from the mine while heading deeper into the earth. Although she was alright for the most part aside from a twisted ankle that became sprained before and a bad bruise to her backside when she smashed onto a beam which held up part of the structure on a lower level of the mine before falling into the water, Ater wouldn't likely survive this dire ordeal. The tunnel the poor girl had been swept into had collapsed shut once she hit the beam, causing the structure on that level to fall apart and block the path back up. Because she was wet, the cat demon couldn't fly effectively due to her wings being soaked just like the rest of her body and she was completely lost amid the flow of water within a network of tunnels going this way and that. Plenty of times Ater struggled against the current, only to be dragged under the surface where she nearly drowned until catching onto pieces of debris and rocks she'd barely cling to before the rapids seized her poor body away from the stuff. Once she'd managed to hold onto a set of planks held together by rope and she attempted to climb aboard and use it as a raft, yet further tumbling in the rapids prevented her from keeping her balance on it; thus she could only hold that tiny bit of hope until it was extinguished. To make matters worse, Ater couldn't swim because she didn't know how to as she had never learned the skill—she and Arbus were okay with water when they took baths together in the castle, but this was too much water for her to handle even with her.

Making yet another attempt to resurface after being yanked down yet again by the pressure, Ater tried to scream and call out for her twin sister. It was no use, however, for the water began to fill her mouth and pour down her esophagus, entering her lungs as well to potentially drown Ater's life into a murky darkness consisting of nothing but water. She couldn't even see anything whether she was above water or below it due to the fact she didn't have a flashlight or an electric torch that could've helped her. Then again, those things ran on batteries which could've gotten wet and they might've possibly electrocuted her. Furthermore, no natural light seeped into this watery abyss.

Just when she was beginning to feel like she was going to drown, the rapids suddenly gave way into an opening over a large black lake. Screaming in terror when she fell out of the waterfall that poured into the lake, Ater flailed her arms out and stared at the surface through widened eyes of fright until they forcefully closed when she hit water below her. Struggling to breath, the scared girl fought against the current of water pushing her towards the center when something she didn't see in there maneuvered underneath her. Having begun to float towards the surface as she received an unexpected ride for a brief moment before it stopped with the advent of bubbles rising with her, Ater broke through the surface and choked violently since she felt as if she must've swallowed an enormous ton of water. Remaining there for several minutes while she obtained her bearings since she had greater freedom to orientate herself to the surroundings around her—not very effectively, of course, due to the darkness—the cat demon whipped her head around while floating. However, all she could see was darkness and water inches ahead of her, the latter of which she also felt. She sniffed and swallowed heavily, unsure of where she'd ended up. "Arbus…" she mewed timidly. It was quiet down here and she received no answer, hence why she called again. "Arbus! ARBUS!"

Unfortunately, her call went unanswered and she paused to catch her breath, waiting for a response from her sister, not an echo. Why wasn't Arbus answering her? Surely she was still close by waiting for her? Was her sister looking for her, or had Arbus given up and left her for dead?

A cold chill traveled down Ater's spine, and it wasn't just because water was sluicing down the nape of her neck and traveling down her backside. Completely drenched in water and lost with what might've been no possible way back, Ater became frightened of the thought that she was lost within an area of the mine shaft that hadn't been explored in decades, maybe even centuries. If she was lucky enough to have a map of the place—which she didn't because she wasn't that lucky—Ater could've found her way back. Then again, this network of tunnels and the chamber she found herself in now probably wasn't even on the map to begin with. Her heart sank deep into her chest, fear overtaking her as she huddled in the water. Staying afloat was a minor benefit which brought her some comfort because she knew she wouldn't drown unless the water level rose up until it had reached the ceiling where she would run out of room and drown. That scared her as did the notion that she wasn't alone in this murky water; she was sure she definitely felt something down below, but couldn't see it. Maybe it was some kind of carnivorously aquatic monster or something.

She shook her head to try and clear it in a futile attempt to erase those fears from her mind. "N-no, d-don't think about it…" she whispered to herself timidly, shutting her eyes while shivering out of fear and also because this water was cold. Perhaps she might've frozen to death in it, a cause of death being attributed to hypothermia. "A-Arbus will g-get here…" Ater murmured softly with a quiet voice, nearly silenced by fear. "Arbus will b-be here s-soon…s-she'll help make it all better and s-save me…" At least she hoped Arbus would come to her rescue, but Ater felt it was no use. What if her sister couldn't find her? Would she be lost forever while Arbus suffered the loss of her preciously cherished twin sister? A mental image of a tombstone in Gray Village's cemetery with her name on it flashed through Ater's mind and remained imprinted there, but no body was located; hence she wouldn't be buried there and be considered a cold case unsolved until she was recovered either alive or—Ater became paralyzed with terror that petrified her—dead. She sniffed and cried.

"A-Arbus…p-please f-find me…" Ater mewed timidly. "S-save me! I-I don't want to die!"

A sudden splash from behind her made the cat demon shriek in fear, and she whirled around to see what was there. Despite being unable to see, Ater squinted in the darkness and swallowed a lump in her throat to clear it before attempting to speak up again. "W-what was that? I-is s-someone t-there?" she asked aloud, though nobody in particular answered her. Hearing something approach her, Ater braced herself for whatever it could've been, wondering if the thing that splashed was an ugly monster out for her blood since she may have unintentionally intruded on its territory, or was merely some kind of item. She hoped it was Arbus, or anyone else who might've come to save her from this dreadful situation she found herself in—heck, even Grora would've been welcome to her so long as she got Ater out of here instead of making an attempt to kill her. Then again, the angelic lady probably wouldn't skip the chance to drown Ater in this lake and leave her corpse behind.

Apprehensive, yet not without a bit of curiosity—she hoped it wouldn't kill her—Ater kept silent and remained motionless for a bit. Her legs swayed back and forth gently to try ensuring she was kept afloat, but other than that she stayed completely still. She watched as the water rippled a little towards her as some kind of item floated over to her. Eyes widening upon catching a glimpse of what the object in question was, the cat demon realized it was, without a doubt, her trident. She just looked at it and blinked several times while staring at it, nervous about it being a trap to ensnare her in something worse. Yet nothing happened and she looked around before swallowing as Ater's courage slowly grew within her. In need of something to defend herself with, Ater reached for the trident with one hand and kept the other close to her chest. "A-at least I-I s-still have this…" came a relieved murmur from her regarding the weapon, thankful for its presence to keep herself safe.

Unfortunately for her, something was already waiting for her to grab it—or probably chose this moment to strike regardless of that. Unaware of the shadow growing larger beneath her as she couldn't see below the surface too well even from above it, Ater screamed in terror when a fearful monstrosity she couldn't describe because she had no idea what it was erupted from beneath her a split second before her fingers closed around the trident. Thankfully she managed to grip it tightly before being flung into the air like a ragdoll. Instinctively she thrust her trident down towards what may have been the unknown creature's jaw—either the upper or lower portion—but what could've been the mouth closed on the other end. Feeling something lash out at her, like a tongue or tentacle of some kind even though she could feel multiple appendages at once for whatever reason, Ater's fright took hold of her and she kicked at the things to thwart them from wrapping around her. They served as a springboard for her to swing upwards and try to balance on the trident's pole, but Ater shrieked when her right foot suddenly slipped. Screaming as she teetered on just her left leg above the mouth of whatever monstrosity this was, the poor girl wobbled unsteadily despite the attempts to maintain her balance. Yet she failed too and fell, though luckily she managed to seize the trident just in time to hang onto it. Horror enveloped Ater, leaving her speechless as she tried to maintain a good grip even as the beast shut its mouth by force to try eating her by breaking Ater's trident.

Hearing the thing begin to snap since it was unable to keep the jaws of death open anymore, Ater looked down into the darkness and cringed in fright at the sounds erupting from this monster's mouth. The noise was so unreal, yet vivid. She couldn't even make out any discernable features of it aside from slimy tentacles with what felt like fangs and suckers attempting to pull her down. She felt doomed, and did the only thing she could think of in a situation like this. "S-somebody, please s-save me!" she cried aloud, shutting her eyes real tight to avoid the glimpse of her being devoured. "I-I'll d-do anything, p-please g-get this thing away! M-make it g-go away! I-I don't want to die!"

And as luck would've had it, somebody apparently did hear her cries and screams of terror resonating through the darkened cavern. From within the darkness behind the direction she faced, a fireball engulfed in darkness emerged from out of nowhere and shot towards the unknown beast. The attack not only inflicted serious damage, for it also pierced the thing's body and went through it. Ater's unknown, monstrous assailant suddenly released her as it fell back into the water, making the kitty scream while she fell too and broke through the water. Struggling to get to the surface as she fought against what felt like more tentacles, Ater screamed once she reached it and kept crying out in fear once these weird tentacles began dragging her in one direction. "L-let me go!" she cried timidly, begging to be released because she was scared to be killed off without ever seeing Arbus. "P-please, I-I just want my s-sister! Arbus, save me!" Yet her pleas went unanswered in silence. It was so quiet aside from her cries while she was being taken along for a terrifying ride that nobody else could've been around. Yet if that was the case, where did that fireball come from? Thin air?

Eventually the frightful experience was over when Ater was deposited on a coastal bank of some kind, coughing heavily to clear her lungs of water while pushing herself up. Hands and knees on solid ground for now, the cat demon quickly whipped her head around in all directions to check her surroundings. Hearing the tentacles recede behind her, Ater looked back and felt that whatever aided in her rescue was slowly withdrawing back to the water it called home. Perhaps another thing of some sort heard her pleas and took pity on her, choosing to rescue her from the other monstrosity instead of fighting with it for the purpose of turning Ater into a meal. Confused, disorientated over that matter and her whereabouts for that matter, the somewhat traumatized kitty blinked rapidly as she staggered to her feet and tried to recollect her bearings. Pondering on whether she should have thanked the kindly beast that helped her, Ater opened her mouth to say something when she heard another sound from behind her. Whirling around with a gasp of fright, she expected to find another monster there ready to attack her, yet that was not the case because she saw a strange light resting at her feet after apparently being tossed to her. Cautiously bending down to pick the object up, she was surprised to find it was an emerald which radiated light. How that was even possible had been a mystery to her because Ater knew emeralds didn't radiate any sort of light with the same color.

Still, it was better than nothing and the mineral gemstone provided a very good light which was welcome because it lit up an area around her that helped Ater see further into the darkness. A hole, or a doorway of some kind could even be made out in front of her. Swallowing as she realized this might've possibly been a way back to Arbus, Ater nevertheless maintained a cautious approach while crossing this threshold. She was fully aware of the fact it could've been a trap, but felt there was no other way but forward. Although she could've stayed and explored the sandy underground bank she was placed upon, the cat demon didn't want to linger if more unfriendly monsters lurked beneath the water. Finding herself in a tunnel, she followed it in the direction it went while gazing at the clear cut quality of the emerald in her hand. It was very beautiful, and Ater came up with the idea of keeping it as a souvenir once she managed to escape from this harrowing cavern if she did.

Minutes passed, and it seemed like the tunnel was going to go on forever when Ater finally caught sight of a mantled doorway constructed of black stone and ivory obsidian—a strange sight indeed. Stranger still was what Ater found through that threshold with ancient markings on it and in a design she could only describe as primordial and eldritch. Her ears perked up at the sight of a stone bridge over a deep chasm, leading to a circular monolith surrounded by a walled structure of loops above the solid wall itself. Like the doorway, it was made of ivory obsidian and what looked like ivory malachite as well with the same markings on it. A large statue towered in the center, and the walls appeared quite old to the point where they were beginning to collapse and crumble. Ater had no idea what this place was, but fascination overtook her fear and replaced it, leading her over the bridge towards a gate guarded by two ancient corpses. She stopped in front of them, wondering if these things were alive which was why she shuddered and approached one. Unsure of what type of beings they were in life and death, the kitty trembled because she knew they were still armed in ancient armor while holding halberds in their grip. They might've been knights guarding this place, and that seemed to be the case even as the two of them gave Ater a bad fright by suddenly moving. Instead of attacking her with Ater unable to defend herself properly as she was disarmed, however, they actually lifted one arm each and pushed the gateway open to bid her entry into the monolith.

Frightened by the fact these corpses were alive and realizing they were undead, Ater could not help but scream and stumble backwards when they began moving. The motion terrified her as she shared a fear of undead beings with her sister, though these guys didn't appear hostile at all as they merely granted her passage without moving further. Her sprained ankle made the kitty wince and mew in pain, tears leaking out of her eyes out of fear and pain while she tried to stand up on her own after having tripped over a stone. "H-huh…?" she murmured, voice lowering to a hushed whisper as Ater looked back and forth between the two. "Y-you're not g-going t-to hurt me…?" Baffled as to why the undead weren't killing her, she hesitated briefly before gathering what was left of her courage to enter the monolithic site despite the fact she lost her trident in the water.

Gems similar to the emerald in her hand were littered all across the floor, firmly wedged a good deal in little slots along the ground, walls, and pillars. They shared the same properties which appeared to make them glow like the one she held. These things lit up the area in bright light which had helped Ater notice this place to begin with because this was how she was able to make out the monolith in the first place. For what may have been a scary place, the atmosphere was peaceful.

Furthermore, the weird markings she also noticed appeared to be an ancient dialect. Runes of some sort comprised the language, and lines of them dotted the place in ordinary patterns such as forming circles on the floor and making lines like on a letter. Ater didn't understand the dialect at all since she wasn't fluent in other languages, plus she hadn't read anything about them despite being aware each region in the Gray Garden and other worlds as well possessing their own unique languages, colloquialisms, terminologies, and other verbal traits and aspects just like the different cultures per region too. Still, there was also an international language which was pretty much used as a national language as well in all worlds. This language here didn't look like one from her world, so perhaps it was a dialect from a different world instead, one that might've been ancient as implied by how old this place was. Maybe it was even older than the war she learned about as a child.

While there was another gate to a bridge leading to another doorway, Ater's gaze fell upon the large statue in the center. It too had the same runic symbols on it in similar patterns, except the stone plaque at the bottom had specific symbols on it which were also spread out along this place. Examining the statue towering in front of her, Ater felt shivers go down her spine as she felt some kind of slimy presence like tentacles were slithering around her—perhaps the same ones that seized her in the water. The creature it represented had six long appendages that looked like heads, and it had a mouth at the bottom of them with razor sharp fangs. Basically it appeared to be a giant worm covered completely in tentacles with six heads. Ater trembled in front of it, wondering if this thing was the creature that attacked her, or whatever had rescued her from it. Yet the more she gazed at it, the more…familiar it felt. Racking her brain for possible memories of how that was, Ater's eyes widened in shock because she remembered seeing a photo of a smaller statue from the excavation Kcalb had gone on with Maurice last year. While she hadn't been familiar with what it was called, the kitty could clearly recollect this thing from her memory because it scared her due to the fact it seemed to be involved with the Doppelganger Murders last year. Was this a shrine to this thing?

"T-this is…that s-scary thing…" she whispered in a timid voice, afraid of meeting the thing face to—well, wormy heads. Was that a good way of phrasing that? Ater didn't want to offend the creature even though she had no idea of what it was like and how scary it could've been, though it couldn't be helped because she didn't really know if it had a face at all. "B-but w-what's it d-doing d-down here…?" Wondering if she might've fallen into that strange city of ghouls Raspbel wound up in before Kcalb and Maurice worked on the excavation into the city, Ater failed to notice she'd been under observation from a presence behind her. It was only when she saw a dark shadow above her and heard a female voice that she whirled around in fear to confront whoever the person was.

"What are your terms?"

With that said, the cat demon stumbled off balance and used the statue to stay balanced on her sprained ankle. Glancing upward and making eye contact with the individual seated atop a wall who eyed her as well, Ater pressed herself up against it fearfully and trembled. She was unsure of who this individual was as she'd never seen the young lady before, but she could definitely see her appearance in the light. The other girl was garbed in leather chainmail armor and a cloak acting as a sort of cape. Her boots were of the same material as her greaves, cuirass, and gauntlets, but they also had spikes at the top which matched similar spikes on the gauntlets. At her side was a scimitar which reminded Ater of the two blades Grora duel wielded, but the cat demon couldn't tell whether it was of a similar design to the angel's or not. She could distinguish the scabbard's shape and that was how she could recognize it was a scimitar. The girl's whole attire was pitch black. While Ater probably would've been more amiable and sociable to whoever she was unless she happened to be an enemy, she felt very afraid of her because half of the girl's face was…

Well, to describe her head, there was a blue iris in her left eye and her hair was completely black like her armor if more like the color of a pretty night sky. The hairstyle was a long ponytail, and the front part of her hair had two pointy ends on either side of her face. In fact, her face looked scary as only the left side was perfectly intact, whereas the right side reminded Ater of the undead guys at the gate. The right eye was gone leaving nothing but an empty socket, and the whole right side of her face was nothing but flesh. At first glance, she appeared to be a lich who retained what had been left of her humanity unless she was still alive—in which case, it was a dire flesh wound.

Ater couldn't understand her, confused about what terms she alluded to. "W-wha…I-I…"

"You have come with terms and my Lord has deigned to hear your offer," the girl told her without explaining who she was or what she was talking about. "In exchange, I shall put forth the term he has requested I deliver to you. What say you about this? Shall we make the deal, or not?"

"W-wha…d-deal…?" Ater was still confused and watched the young lady descend to meet her up close by casually ambling towards her. She was taller than Ater was by a foot or two.

"Yes…parental presences absent from life," the other speaker remarked, delivering quite a shocking revelation which the cat demon couldn't comprehend. It made her eyes enlarge in shock as many shudders passed down the spine of Ater's trembling form. She would've spoken up even though she felt her voice was caught in her throat, but the young lady in black armor continued to talk before Ater had a chance to say anything. "I can show you their final moments and who seized those moments from them. All you have to do follow through on your end of our bargain." Staying silent now and giving the cat demon time to think it over, she watched as Ater's face contorted due to the kitty's personal conflict with the topic at hand because of how significant it was to her.

This was a possible answer to the questions that had worried her throughout her whole life! They had to be the answers she sought, solutions to a great mystery that concerned her and caused Ater great terror from abandonment issues and fears they might've been no more! Ater would have given anything and done anything to learn more about their parents! But…how would Arbus react to this? What if Arbus didn't want to learn about them and had become satisfied with her life now? What if Arbus felt she didn't need them anymore and could care less about them in all aspects? A difficult set of questions pertaining to her sister, yet Ater couldn't help but feel afraid, scared since her twin might've given up on them already. She could remember their conversation the other day about them, and it could've sounded like Arbus already had turned the towel in and didn't want to look back. Their lives with Kcalb were good and all, so maybe her twin sister only wanted to stay by his side and forget about their parents by favoring him over them. Kcalb was an amazing man, that much was for sure, and he was so kind as well…yet he also told them not to speak about their parents. That led Ater to believe he might not have been looking for them as he said he was. While she still wanted to believe in Kcalb as she loved him, Ater felt she needed to take this opportunity.

"Your decision?" the girl inquired with a serious facial expression, waiting for a response.

"Y-yes…y-yes, p-please! I-I'll do anything you ask!" Ater eagerly pleaded with her for the answers she sought, hoping this strange young lady would tell her all she needed to know regarding her parents. She didn't care how impossible the terms were, or what they even were for that matter. As long as she learned about the parents she and Arbus never knew, she'd do anything for answers.

"Very well, I shall show once you fulfill your end of the deal…" the girl promised her.

"P-please, tell us! M-my name is Ater, and my twin sister's name is Arbus! W-we need to know about our parents, who they were, and what they were like! P-please, that's all we need!"

"Accepted…" the young lady nodded. "In exchange for that, here is my term for you, Ater of Skrevera: you, Ater of Skrevera, are to fight the one you fear most…and lose to her on purpose." With that said, she placed her hand on Ater's shoulder and drew the cloak around the cat demon's body with the other to engulf her in darkness before the veil of said darkness was lifted to free her.

Blinking rapidly, still shocked from the revelation she'd been waiting for her whole life, a long lost pair of lives that were never in the lives of her and Arbus, Ater reeled off balance slightly before catching herself upright. Somehow she was back in the mine shaft near the spot which had collapsed when she fell down into the pit, and she could hear Arbus and Othros calling out for her. She heard them use her name, inwardly welcoming the voice of her twin sister even if she had not responded to them because her mind was on something else. What she was thinking of were those terms in the deal with the unknown girl—whom might've been a demon if Ater guessed correctly. If she and Arbus were to hear about their parents, Ater had to fight someone she feared more than any other individual…and purposely lose whether that meant forfeiting, or fighting poorly.

…

 **Hastur managed to get away for now, but he'll be back soon. And will Ater follow up on her end of the bargain with the mysterious lich-like demon she encountered? Things don't look good for the Gray Garden now that another invasion is beginning to become possible.**

 **It has also been a while since we last saw this particular Great Elder, and I bet you're wondering who the lich-like demon is. Those of you who've read** _Inner Craving_ **up to the end of it should recall her from the brief moments she was in the story and its secret chapter. The last individual whom I've introduced you to regarding a relation to M'nellkor was Soa if you can recall (or just go back to reread** _Inner Craving_ **), and now it's time to show off her adorable crow. She'll be quite a mysteriously enigmatic individual for some time as I'll keep who this girl is like that on purpose for a little while as I provide some occasional hints here and there so you can speculate on who she might be and what her backstory will be like. Regarding her face, I kind of based it off the face of Two-Face from Batman, specifically The Dark Knight.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Dark Knight; it is owned by Christopher Nolan. I do not own Batman and Two-Face; they're owned by DC Comics.**


	9. Chapter Nine: Planning to be Prepared

Her fingers on her left hand tapped the table impatiently as she waited for Etihw to get here by now, sighing out of sheer boredom with her feet plopped up on the tabletop. Leaning back into the chair to slouch in it, making sure the thing didn't suddenly fall backwards and send her toppling out and spilling onto the floor, Grora held a stapled packet of files in her right hand and read over them. Thinking back on how the mission went, she shut her eye and pondered how it could have a negative impact on their world based on what happened. Hastur escaped, no thanks to the cats due to the fact they didn't take the threat seriously and let him get away. If they actually had, Ater was bound to have been alright which even the angelic woman had to admit. Unfortunately, that failure was the reason why Ater fell in the pit and it was nobody's fault but her own and Arbus' as well.

She could understand why Mitchell was unable to reopen the portal Hastur escaped through into another world, most likely the heaven of that world. The spellsword tried to reconstruct it, but could not for a few reasons. Firstly, he was a demon and the connection could not be made because by nature that meant he wouldn't be allowed access to it unless another world or heaven gave that privilege to this world's magic users. Second, from the magical energy that remained behind since it residually lingered in the mine, it was clear no connectivity back was intended since the deity of that world didn't want any intruders in his or her realm. Finally, the energy itself was complex and couldn't be sorted out effectively; whoever opened and closed it was obviously intelligent when it came to the establishment of portals since the individual likely understood the physics of portals.

Although Grora wanted to help capture him if that was possible, thereby improving chances they could've caught the bastard and brought him to trial, she realized Othros was right back then when he stopped her from pursuing her old boss yesterday. Yes, she would've had difficulty since concentrating on him with the cat demons present was impossible for her as she would've shouted at Ater and Arbus in rage because of their involvement and any failures that were bound to happen like the one that did, or she would've thought about killing them if Hastur hadn't—well, just Ater.

However, Grora felt she had made more progress by staying back because of the items she found. The satchel of gold were donations to a charity, and she brought the enchanted blade to one of the appraisers in the castle who was skilled in identifying enchantments. The angel waited for a report back since he promised to forward it to her email account, and she spent her time going over documents concerning Hastur while biding time to speak with Etihw. Kcalb was busy and so was Wodahs as they both had their separate meetings to attend, but the Goddess made time to meet and hear what Grora had to say in full about the mission. She heard a simplified account from the angel when she returned, but would hear the long account today once she arrived to discuss the subject. Hopefully she took it seriously and didn't slack off like she usually did; that wouldn't bode well.

Thankfully it appeared she hadn't since Grora caught sight of the Goddess enter the library in search of her. Holding an arm up to wave her over, she motioned for Etihw to take a seat while turning back to the documents. "Good, you got my message and arrived on time. Looks like a sea of paperwork will have to be sailed upon another time once this issue is finished," she commented, casually referring to the workload Etihw had to deal with on an everyday basis without a break as she was under observation from that camera in the office. "I take it you're waiting for a long story."

"As a matter of fact, I am," Etihw replied, nodding in agreement. "You may begin, Grora."

Setting the files down, Grora turned to face her and sat upright in the chair because she was going to make eye contact while talking. "As you know from what I've told you, Hastur was within the mine—specifically the church where our organization used to conduct the daily meetings. We fought through several monsters en route through the tunnel leading there and searched the whole place. Nothing was found except for what was stored inside a chest guarded by an ogre we defeated prior to our investigation. It seems Hastur opened it to possibly store some items within it for us."

"I see…" Etihw murmured, putting a bent finger to her chin and wondering why he'd do a thing like that. "Strange…For what purpose do you believe he would have left them there? Why'd you arrive at the conclusion Hastur intended to turn whatever the items were over to us, Grora?"

"My theory will become clear as I relate what those items were," the angel explained. "The chest contained a bunch of junk that ogre must've collected; random stuff that didn't relate to what our objective of the mission was, but three items in particular grabbed my attention. One: a satchel of gold which the ogre might've found lying around anywhere." Grora raised a finger to emphasize the gold and use said finger as a way of counting off on the items. "However, the second item was an enchanted shortsword; again the ogre might've picked it up too. Yet I don't believe that would be a likely scenario when we take the third item into consideration: a map of this region." Coming to this point, she unfurled the map which had been placed on the table in front of her along with a second map she got from the library's geographical section. "See these marks; they are portals."

"The locations of hidden portals?" Etihw inquired, taking the maps to look at them. "Looks like you've already found the corresponding coordinates on this other map. Have you instructed a set of squads to search these spaces for the portals within these areas of this region?" she asked.

Grora nodded. "Already have, and I placed mediums on each team with battlemages and a couple spellswords to determine the precise spot these portals are located at, and possibly attempt to open one if it's already closed. Unfortunately, that might be difficult due to the complex nature of these portals and the fact the deity we're probably dealing with could've set them to remain shut until the time for an invasion is near. Mitchell explained as much when he informed me about why he couldn't open the one within the mine, and he also suggested I have angels open it because the demons might be unable to open these portals if they were set up by a deity in a foreign heaven."

"Good, you have done well, Grora. I see you're handling the situation quite well."

"Thank you, though that still doesn't answer your first inquiry, Lady Etihw," the angel said and continued to explain her thought process. "From the perspective I'm looking through, it seems Hastur might be betraying that deity. We know what he's like and how he's too narcissistic to even work with others, hence why I believe he's trying to dispose of them by giving us means to prevent the invasion and possibly take down the deity and his or her forces. When I encountered Hastur at the old stables in the meadow, he was called off as I explained to you yesterday which leads me to suspect he might've been defeated by the deity. This could've forced him to work with said deity."

"Interesting…it appears there's conflict between Hastur and the deity," Etihw murmured.

"Possibly, and I was also led to that conclusion by the fact he was holding back yesterday. He didn't go all out against us when we fought him. The deity must have him on a tight leash."

"And the items are meant to assist us in the defense of our world?" the Goddess asked since she wanted to clarify that matter further. "If Hastur didn't fight to the fullest on purpose, surely he would be in a service of some kind to a deity by trying to not get caught. The deity could possibly have a hold over him, pulling the strings to have Hastur fulfill objectives. Now doing a service and being in service are two different things, so I would imagine he'd reluctantly fight under a deity in any case because he won't let anybody order him around. I know because he never obeyed any of the commands he received during the war and did whatever he wanted, hence why I suspect these items and his unexpected appearance to you were meant to go against whatever commands he got."

"My guess is that he probably lost to the deity in question; he could never hope to defeat a person of omnipotence like you. Hell, he can't even beat Head Angel and Sir Devil, plus he could not hold a candle to Rigatona," Grora put forth that tidbit as further evidence of his intentions. "He would have to resort to guerilla tactics and stealth, a kind of warfare he despises even though he'll make use of such tricks to further his personal agenda. I suppose he's planning on having us combat the invasive force defensively so he can try to wipe up the remains on both sides." She sighed and crossed her arms, shutting her eye as the memory she dreamed about the other night recollected in her mind. Although it might've been irrelevant now, the angel felt she had to put it out there in the interest of understanding his methods. "Kind of like something he told me long ago, actually. I've killed a lot of innocent people back then, including angels who sought to help us. A while ago I've actually dreamt of one time following some progress in the investigation back then," she explained.

"Go on…" Etihw encouraged her to continue, feeling Grora wanted to relieve some stress.

"This was after Head Angel discovered angels were the perpetrators, unaware we were the suspects. That day I'd gone to one of the meetings as usual and helped Hastur introduce a few new recruits. One of them didn't make it since I killed him, believing he was a spy Head Angel placed among us because of written orders I found on his body. It wasn't until I discovered the treachery that I realized those angels were never spies at all, but willing participants of our movement."

Might I ask how this pertains to the current situation, Grora?"

Grora sighed, opening her eye to make eye contact with the Goddess. "Hastur said we were going to use Head Angel's discovery to our advantage by making it seem like the angels were from a different party, a faction amongst the so called 'Fallen Angels' who sought power for themselves. If I didn't know any better, I'd say what he could be doing now is similar to that trick of his because he's essentially trying to play two sides against one another and be the third party in the conflict."

"Insidious…" the Goddess uttered regarding the notion. "Hastur's certainly crafty. Why, I would suppose he's probably planning on having us assassinate the other deity. A shortsword will typically be used by stealthy types, those seeking to use smaller blades to make a silent kill. As far as I know, that's probably the context of the weapon bequeathed to us." She sighed as well, shutting her eyes while thinking about how dishonorable this whole idea about cloak and dagger tricks was. It was espionage with an elusive assassination, methods used to cause chaos and death from within the shadows. "Looking back, I should probably have had him arrested had I known it would come to this. Unfortunately, I didn't have the foresight to think this far ahead, even in war and after it as I was focusing more on winning the damned conflict to end it. Thankfully, it ended peacefully."

"Indeed, I'm glad we're no longer fighting some pointless war too," Grora agreed, feeling it really was much better than shedding blood over nothing but a natural law. "All that aside, I can reckon he is definitely planning something to his advantage. If he emerges as the victor over us as well as those allies of his, he just might have a chance of seizing more power from both sides and wielding it to his own benefit. Hastur could potentially challenge other deities, or at least make the argument he is superior or just as strong as them compelling enough to believe. Nonetheless, using guerilla tactics just won't do the trick when he intends to go it alone and use others as his pawns."

Etihw couldn't agree more with that assessment of a potential outcome. "Yes, of course, it is a critical scenario to consider in these dire times with the threat of another invasion on our hands. The gold coins he must've left us are probably a payment of some sort, an investment into a notion of believing we'd take money to murder someone in exchange. It really feels like an assassination is in motion, but for whom? Our foes, or us if he left those there for his allies? The blade's needed."

"Exactly, that's my point and why I removed those particular items of interest. The gold is of no concern or value, it went to a charity I invested it into. I'm having the shortsword appraised; hopefully we can find out what the enchantment on it is so we determine the purpose of it. Regards to the portals, I've put mediums on every squad investigating those areas and other places too. The allies Hastur's using probably don't trust him either and are using him just as he wants to use them; hence why they might do things he's unaware of, like coming through those portals and setting up some secret ones too. I extended the orders concerning the portals to other regions by sending word out about them and instructing those places to have mediums on board with the squads." Her logic sounded just right, and Etihw had to admire the steps Grora was taking to ensure their world could be better protected from another invasion—one they would be better prepared for as well. Still, an important point had to be raised concerning the defensive barrier around their world in the form of stones Etihw constructed to protect the Gray Garden from outside threats. Only deities and Devils could destroy those, and she was about to bring those up when Grora addressed that matter because she anticipated it. "Don't worry, I'm also taking your stones into account as well; they're safe too."

"Your attention to detail pertaining to the threat at hand and how well you're handling these preparations impresses me, Grora," the Goddess complimented her with a small smile. "It amazes me how you're keeping a cool head amid much of the impending conflict with another world."

Shutting her eye and slumping back in the chair, Grora also flashed her a smile of gratitude. "Yeah, I know the guy well; just not that good enough it seems, hence why I've been reading these case files on him to get a better sense of what he was like in the past. Hastur's excelled at so many things as a child into adulthood from what I've glossed over. No wonder he let it all go to his head and began to believe he was destined to be some perfect being." She chuckled while outstretching her arms to emphasize the fact while shrugging. "Heh, just some snob who only got good at being a complete jackass to everyone around him and attempting to prove it by showing off all the things he could do. A total narcissist, point made and proven. How I ever fell in love with this guy is still beyond me, even now. I should've seen it coming, but I didn't because I let my beliefs in his ideals and my love for him blind me from seeing who he really was and what he was really like in reality."

"A reality that does bear some truth, but was unpleasant all the same," Etihw concurred.

"It was unpleasant because I believed in a reality that became a dark fantasy I attempted to help maintain under Hastur," Grora opened her eye, feeling nostalgic from reminiscing about this. She smiled warmly, thinking of how she'd been such a huge fool back then. "Sure, it's true and in our past, but we've got to move forward for our people and live peacefully. I just want to forget it ever happened and move on, lock the bad memories and my dark past up and throw away the key."

"And how do you plan on doing that, Grora?" the Goddess inquired, wondering how Grora managed to put it behind for good without looking back. "Throwing away things that were once a part of that past, disrespecting them, or substituting the man you hate with someone else you hate?"

Narrowing her eye at Etihw to glare at her despite meaning no disrespect, she felt annoyed the Goddess had to bring up a few ideas she had considered and already followed through on. How Etihw figured that all out was easy as they were valid options—also, maybe one of the guys had told Etihw about Desmond's badge which she found and threw away. Nevertheless, Grora sighed. "And what of those suggestions? Surely you know as well as I do that my past is nothing to laugh at, or admire. I hate it, I hate the woman I once was. I've tried so hard to forget the past and discard it as I became a different person from who I've been back then. I have changed myself for good."

"I'm not so sure," Etihw was quick to disagree with her and made her opinion on the matter known directly to Grora instead of letting it follow the grapevine like other thoughts that did. She'd known the angel for a long time, and knew it was better for her to hear things about her to her face. Grora always liked being on point and very open with her feelings and thoughts regardless of how blunt, polite, or truthful she may have been. "Yes, I can understand you want to leave the past and not let it hold you down. Yet that in of itself is a contradiction when you ponder about Ater—along with Arbus at times, I might add, but mostly Ater. While you have demonstrated your commitment to forgetting your participation in True Light and how you once showed feelings for Hastur, you've not done the same with her. If I were to compare your offenses in True Light to those against Ater, I would find that you haven't changed much. Granted, you do accept other demons, but not her."

"This again?" Grora sighed, resting her chin in one hand with the elbow on the tabletop. "I suppose there's no use making my point anymore aside from reiterating how they weren't really a whole lot of help when they showed up last night. I mean, they did save Othros which I can thank them for because he's my friend, but don't push this damned lecture onto me time and time again, Lady Etihw. Besides, they fooled around with Hastur and were a primary reason he got away from us. I'm sure not even you can deny that, knowing their tomfoolery didn't help us catch the jerk."

"True, I'll admit they could've handled it more efficiently by acting mature in the situation. That much I will give you, Grora," the Goddess conceded the point to her on that subject. "Still, it is a lecture I will be giving you constantly whenever you badmouth or hurt them, regardless of the context involved. Othros informed me he told you to report back so you wouldn't lose focus of the objective by muddling your sights on Hastur and replacing him with Ater and that you agreed with his decision. Am I wrong, or has he misinformed me by accident?" she asked, wanting an answer.

"No, you're not wrong and he certainly didn't misinform you," the angelic lady responded. "Had he not made that request, I really would've tried to include Ater in on the pain. Hell, I hoped he would've killed her. On the bright side, however, his choice of sending me back was good since I got those items in. Hastur's allies might've gotten their hands on those things if we all distracted ourselves with catching him, hence another reason why I agreed to go along with his decision."

"So you do acknowledge you like to harm Ater and couple it with a practical objective for following his advice," Etihw concluded as Grora nodded, aware that the practical idea was in fact a possible means of staying ahead of Hastur and his supporters if he left those particular items for the allies on his side. "Tell me, Grora, have you learned anything regarding your thoughts on her?"

"What about that bitch? She's full of shit and has taken my eye." Yet again the angel made reference to the fact the cat demon was the accidental cause of her gouged out eye. "Why ask me?"

"Because, Grora, from where I'm standing on this issue, what you're doing to her isn't any different to the treatment you've subjected innocent people through in True Light. You harmed the lives of innocent people because you believed they were Fallen Angels and demonic liars who had plans to usurp my position and kill me. You let a man blind you to the real motive of those killings."

"No denial from me about that; I embrace it fully and now hate myself for being involved."

"It's good that you are seeking redemption for the past sins you've committed, but a lot of those sins still remain categorized under a single unit of offenses against Ater. Why, if I had to say this—and I will say it because it's what I'm seeing from you, Grora—your membership in that old order of yours has instilled a mindset against demons that survived even after you realized demons and angels in this world were not the individuals Hastur made you believe them to be. Although it has diminished greatly, I can tell that same belief has been narrowly tailored by you to concentrate specifically on Ater all because of a single accident. That accident has revived the old perspective you used to advocate in True Light, and instead of generalizing it onto others as in the past, you've discriminated specifically on Ater and set your sights on her as your foe whom you want to kill."

Listening to Etihw talk this way about her was making Grora angry, and she could not even believe how Etihw was relating her beliefs in True Light to her opinions about Ater. She was about to actually chide the Goddess for thinking of both issues as similar if not entirely the same, though Etihw still went on in her dialogue despite knowing it was having an adverse effect on Grora. "You know, Grora, looking at you now as you're getting angry at me for putting forth my thoughts about these matters, I would say you're probably becoming more and more like Hastur towards Ater."

"Don't you bloody compare me to that asshole!" the angel shouted, raising her voice while slamming her hands on the table to emphasize how mad she was. Her reaction garnered quite a lot of attention from others who looked over to find her arguing with Etihw. She didn't notice the way she responded to the Goddess was gathering their gazes, and she certainly didn't realize she might have been proving Etihw's point. Grora didn't intend to get this angry with her, but couldn't control herself as she made a violent outburst against somebody who was her superior. That was not going to look good on her personal record. "You may be the Goddess, but that doesn't give you the right to slander me with this bullshit about Hastur and I being the same when we're so totally not! How dare you even relate him and True Light to Ater! Have you no acumen about that, Lady Etihw?!"

"Well, what would you like me to say about it?!" Etihw also raised her voice to match that same volume Grora used against her. "You want me to let this hatred against Ater flow freely?!"

"Absolutely! I want to make her pay by punishing her for taking my eye!" Grora shouted.

"And I want to punish you for even having the gall to not learn from your mistakes! I want to punish you because of the pain you inflict on Ater and Arbus!" Etihw countered Grora's flawed logic with an open threat against her. "Face the facts, Grora, you've learned nothing about atoning for your past mistakes because you're using those girls—mainly Ater—as an outlet for you to just relieve the stress you've felt upon discovering what Hastur was truly like and what he planned on using True Light for! You may not care about this problem, but I do because of how you handle it whenever Ater is involved and wherever she's concerned! You'd better stop hurting her, Grora!"

"Or else what?!" the angel demanded defiantly as the Goddess turned to walk away before she turned back to Grora with further elaboration on the threat she just finished making to her.

"Or I will take action on those girls' behalf and see to it that you are punished more severely than any other time Kcalb and I have punished you! I am literally on the verge of exiling you!"

"Bah, whatever," Grora scoffed and watched the Goddess walk out in a foul mood because of the argument they both got into over Ater and the angel's mistreatment of her. Hearing the door into the corridor slam shut behind Etihw after also having turned to go her own way, Grora sighed in frustration because of how they both acted. It wasn't fair of Etihw to compare her to Hastur due to the fact Grora was completely different from him; the Goddess was merely basing it on how she acted around one specific individual alone. Surely that wasn't a strong foundation for the concept. Then again, maybe she shouldn't have raised her voice first; however, she clearly felt insulted and upset that Etihw—and maybe others as well—viewed her as somewhat similar to her old boss.

Stretching her arms in the air, she yawned out of sheer boredom while resting them behind her head. Carrying the files of Hastur back to where they belonged, Grora shut her eye and thought about how this whole problem was affecting her. She usually wasn't this angry or upset about any other issues regardless of how dire they were, but the subject of Hastur and True Light hit her hard because she'd once served him in that organization. It was personal, very personal in fact because she did love him until the day she discovered his treachery, how he was using the order for himself. That was why she felt so distraught and furious over the affair since she loved Hastur up to a point when she began to question her beliefs in him and their cause after he downright admitted all of it to her. Despite being aware that her emotions were getting to her, Grora didn't care as she'd allow her feelings to speak for her regardless of how calm and collected she was against inner demons.

Arriving at the section where she retrieved the documents, she placed them back where the files belonged instead of having second thoughts. She could've snuck out with them and burned it all to erase Hastur's presence from even being on paper, yet she couldn't because it wasn't allowed. Not only that, but doing so wouldn't go towards defeating him; plus keeping these records here on file would serve to discourage others from following the logic Hastur believed in. Grora would've wanted this shit destroyed for good so she could forget about him, though she let the files be since she still wanted something of her past to be understood and comprehended so others would know why she fought for True Light before going against the organization and its insidious leader.

It couldn't be helped, so she decided to simply forget about it and ignore the documents.

On her way out of the library to go about whatever business she felt like doing because she didn't have much of anything to do right now, Grora opened her eye and caught sight of children. They had come up from the daycare center to read some books for their age level and listen to one of the employees read them a few, but they weren't the focal point of the angelic woman's attention because one of the individuals who brought them up garnered it instead. Quickly stepping directly into one of the aisles near the girl she spotted, Grora watched Ater remove a book from a shelf and flip through it. Unsure of what it was since the cat demon's back was turned to her, she also caught sight of Mitchell approaching her once he spotted Grora eavesdropping on the kitty. He raised his arm up to wave at her, letting his friend know he was coming over to chat with her. Feeling Ater's punishment could wait until the children weren't looking, the angel figured she might as well speak with him about it and motioned for the monkey demon to follow her further down the aisle.

"I see you're performing a little tactical espionage on the usual victim of yours," he stated to begin the conversation with her, stuffing his hands into his pockets while she leaned against one of the bookcases which stood against a wall so it wouldn't fall over. "Must you hurt her while kids are present, Grora? I know you hate her, but please think of the children. You'll scare them if they see you harming Ater." He had a good point, a valid notion which Grora acknowledged by nodding with her eye closed to let him know she understood the matter and how to act around the children.

"Don't worry, I've got their best interests in mind and at heart. I'll not beat her now."

"Good to hear, though I also wanted to say that I overheard your little spat with Lady Etihw just now. You two did catch quite a bit of attention when you started yelling, so it was hard not to ignore the fight between you both. I didn't mean to listen in even when I was nearby, though I am in agreement with her on your treatment of Ater, Grora," Mitchell explained honestly. As a friend of hers, he was right to be worried about her and she welcomed his concern for that very reason.

"Maybe I should've handled it better," Grora admitted, shrugging her shoulders before she crossed her arms and sighed. "Even so, I don't appreciate being compared to him. That crosses the line, Mitchell, and I would like to ask that you respect that matter and kindly refrain from it too."

He smiled at her, showing he would be happy to grant that request. "I won't, so don't fret. I know you don't like to talk about it, so I'll change the subject; though, it will still be about Ater, and the reason why is because I just wanted to ask you about her. This isn't related to your thoughts about how much you hate her so much as it is merely an observation I'd like to discuss if possible."

"Go on," she encouraged him, wondering what he was thinking about and had in mind for relaying to her. "If it's the usual stuff about her, I'm afraid there isn't much to do but confirm it."

"No, it's something different pertaining to last night's mission," her friend began to explain what was on his mind. "You've heard Hastur knocked her down that pit as we've informed you of once we returned to the castle. What I'd like to bring to your attention is not that part of the incident regarding her, but rather after it. You see, Grora, Ater's been—how shall I put it?—distracted. She hasn't really been focusing from what I've seen and had trouble concentrating. Bear in mind I am only addressing what I've seen from a few times I passed by her this morning, including when she was at work in the daycare center when I walked by the place earlier today. Something feels off."

Shutting her eye, Grora wondered whether his account of Ater's odd behavior was valid in a way that it might've been true. She and her twin sister were spontaneously playful and could also be considered spunky to a certain extent for a pair of childish kitties. They hardly listened to many individuals and what they were told to do, but they worked well with the children they helped care for in the daycare center. Yet they could easily be distracted by something that caught their interest and would fawn over whatever the thing was. It was relatively normal behavior for kitties like the two of them, though the way Mitchell put it made it seem like Ater's demeanor was abnormal. The girl did fall into a pit after all, so perhaps that caused a bit of brain damage and trauma even though she likely landed in the water because the cat demon was soaking wet when Arbus and Othros had found her. "I don't know, I haven't seen her all day until just now; she seems pretty normal to me," Grora said, figuring she had to comment on the matter regardless of whether it was a bland remark or not. The thought that Ater must've been concerned about her parents crossed her mind too, but she didn't think about it too much because she vowed not to use that kind of material against her.

"Well, it was just a minor observation," Mitchell replied and noticed a few other guys he'd known beckon him over for a chat. "It's probably nothing but a few worries or so; I hope she feels better and would like to help if I can and if she asks for any aid with whatever's troubling her. She could be worried about how she failed and how you perceive it, so try to go easy on her this time." Saying so, he turned to the guys and walked away, waving goodbye. "Anyway, see you around."

"Yep, see ya," the angel waved goodbye to him as well and returned to where she spied on Ater. Silently observing the cat demon's movements, she watched as the kitty finished with a book she'd been leafing through—presumably the first book—before heading over to another section of the library. Grora shadowed her like a mouse, quietly weaving through the aisles to keep the kitty in sight as Ater found another book and started flipping through that one. Placing a bent finger on her chin as she read the sign above the area Ater was—the foreign worlds section—the angel could not help but ponder what her target was searching for exactly. If she recalled what the sign said in the other area Ater had been in—ancestral records—it appeared the cat demon was looking up her familial roots to determine who her parents were. The only question though was why she searched through a book on foreign worlds unless her parents were from another world. That was the logical assumption Grora made, so the angel figured she might as well satisfy her own curiosity too.

She was about to step out of the aisle and approach Ater while smirking because she wanted to scare the poor girl as revenge for the eye and failing to help with the problem concerning Hastur when she saw Arbus energetically skip over to her sister. Choosing to watch their interaction now instead of going over like she originally planned, Grora watched as Arbus spoke to her sister. "Hey, Ater, whatcha looking at?" Receiving no response, the black haired cat demon stared at her with a quizzical expression on her face as she began to gently poke her sister's shoulder to try getting her attention that way. "Ater, hello, Ater. Gray Garden to Ater, Gray Garden to Ater. Answer me!"

"H-huh, w-wha—o-oh, Arbus! What is it?" Ater finally responded, snapping out of a pretty peculiar trance she must've been in to have not been paying any attention to her surroundings and others. "S-sorry, I-I was busy with something. What's up, are the children ready to go back now?"

"Yep, they're all set!" her sister grinned. "Why are you so spacey today, anyway?"

Having shut the second book she held, Ater set it and the other one aside on the table so an attendant could take care of restocking those books where they belonged for her. "It's nothing, just looking through random books out of curiosity," she said with a frown before smiling. "I'm done, so let's head back and escort the little tykes back downstairs for their naptime, okay, Arbus?"

Arbus nodded with a smile. "Okay, Ater," she responded and took her sister by the hand to bring her over to where the children were gathered. When they left, Grora emerged from her hiding place in an aisle and strode over to the table where Ater put the books down. Noticing some pieces of a tissue acting as bookmarks in a couple spots, she set the books next to each other and flipped them open to where the pages were. The bookmarks were put where an alphabetical index of names were; apparently these were registers of the families living in the Gray Garden and foreign worlds that traded here, familial and ancestral connections. Ater's bookmarks were in points starting with the letters 'SCR' and 'SKR', though there was hardly anything in either book. Neither mentioned too many families beginning with those initials, so it was unclear what she hoped to gain by looking through these registers for her parents when Ater didn't know the surname she and Arbus went by.

Somewhat confused about the notion, Grora simply shrugged and figured she'd better save the attendants here time by putting the books back herself. Removing the bookmarks Ater used so nobody else would wonder who was using them and for what purpose, the angel placed them where they belonged because she could remember the exact spots the cat demon took them from. She did not really care who the girl's parents were, and she certainly wouldn't use them against Ater at all out of respect for the dead. That was why Grora let the matter drop instead of dwelling on it.

…

Two lone figures stood within the darkness in front of a scrying pool within what might've been considered a primordially eldritch cathedral. Standing at the far end as corpses shuffled from one place to the next on patrol while entering and exiting through holes and doorways, both of the liaisons observed the events taking place as foretold in the scrying pool at the base of statue which depicted their master. One of them smiled, chuckling as she feasted on an ancient ghoul's body as lunch. _"So, whaddya think, big sis? Will she take the deal and follow through on her end of it?"_

"The deal has been made," the lich demon murmured as her younger sister by bond stepped closer to embrace her in a sisterly hug which the lich demon returned affectionately. "We shall not act unless the girl fulfills her end of the bargain so we can uphold ours. That remains to be seen."

" _But she'll likely go for it, right?"_ the other demon inquired rhetorically, still smiling. _"It's certainly beginning to take root in her. I bet it'll drive her to the brink of insanity."_ She could not help but giggle at how funny Ater's suffering was, but her adorable crow did not chide her for it.

"It is what it is, and its effects shall have an impact not just on her life, but theirs as well."

The doppelganger continued to giggle sinisterly. _"In more ways than one."_

"True…" the lich demon murmured and broke away from the embrace to dispel the magic within the scrying pool before walking away. "I'm going to lie down in the cemetery. Join me."

Her younger sister was ecstatically pleased to be invited. _"Yay, snuggle time with big sis!"_

…

It was a sweet view of the sky from where he stood on a balcony of the Sun Tower, a place sacred in the Land of the Sun where the inhabitants in the world below knew it as the God's home. This was the building where he lived with the Commander-in-Chief of his army and a Sun Council devoted to the light ushered in by the bright, golden sun floating above clouds in this heaven. The populace of the mortal realm worshipped this building and its inhabitants, praying to them for the light they delivered while wholeheartedly believing in the God and never doubting him. By placing their trust in him, the people were guaranteed pure light to dispel the darkness in their world. To a resident of this world who was sure to see this view regardless of where the individual was, this in fact was one of the best rewards for becoming an angel as the person received rights to live here.

To Hastur, however, this disgusting light was tainted in several respects. For one thing, the God didn't do anything about the demons and their Devil who also resided in this world, preferring to let them languish in the Flame Underworld where they'd suffer the darkness of this sun's shade. Being in the shade might've helped them cool off, but they weren't accepted into the light because they hated how they weren't in power here which led to their fall from the Sun Heaven. Some like Ivlis had come to doubt his perspective of who the light belonged to while trying to acquire plenty of knowledge the God claimed was unnecessary and blasphemous in his world. Hastur had nothing against knowledge so long as it was appropriate in his eyes, but the fact remained that developing an intellect was considered a sin in this world. Faith, or rather blind obedience to the God by solely serving and worshipping him while believing in everything he said, was the only martial law here.

If he put a little thought into the matter, Hastur would probably recognize that they weren't so different after all. Like him, the God was narcissistic and believed in the idea that demons were filthy trash that needed to be disposed of with Fallen Angels and other heavens that did nothing to stem the threat of such filth. Unlike him, however, the God was smart enough to acknowledge the opportunities of using a man like Hastur and demons whom he could later slaughter so he and the angels who served him could revel in the people's faith. Such a God was dreadful in Hastur's eyes, and the fact said God had the audacity to defeat him in combat instead of accepting his own death by the angel's hands so said angel could advance towards becoming a God himself made the issue worse. It was why he came to despise the Sun God and wish him dead, hence why he was making attempts to get rid of him by any means necessary—even aiding the Gray Garden in the hope that world would also be destroyed in the upcoming invasion and war with the Sun Heaven quite soon. Hastur could not assassinate the Sun God himself because the God was stronger and watched him closely with the aid of his subordinates, so it had to be the Gray Garden when it came to their loss.

"Hastur…" an angel garbed in bright yellow robes approached him without bowing before him to show respect which Hastur hadn't earned in this heaven since he was being used as a tool.

"What?" he inquired bitterly, turning his head to the angel whose eyes were closed shut.

"Lord Siralos has convened the Sun Council and his top military officers for the assembly. He has demanded for your report of how the mission you've undertaken on our behalf went. You're to come in and deliver it with full honesty. Make no mistake, withholding information is treasonous and it will be discovered by Lord Siralos once he analyzes your account with full scrutiny of it."

Hastur growled, despising how he had to be treated like a mongrel instead of receiving the prestige and respect he believed he rightfully deserved by being entitled to it. Yet he turned around all the way nonetheless and shoved the angel aside to head into the Tower Palace without giving a reply to her because she wasn't worthy of one. Storming down the corridor decorated by murals a society of talented artists painted to portray Siralos and his closest confidents in the light alongside impressive chandeliers and tall candelabras which hung from the matching tiled ceiling and floor, he came right to a large pair of golden doors and kicked them open before striding into the presence of Siralos' Sun Court where the Sun God himself was seated at the other end of the room. Without even bothering to take notice of the military officers and Sun Council who were seated too, arrayed around the large, circular chamber with a sun mural on both the floor and ceiling, Hastur declared his arrival in a curt tone of voice. "You called, Siralos?" he inquired without a formal title.

Taking a sip of his tea while sitting a in a golden throne of comfortable red cushions, Siralos merely blinked his eyes while smiling down at the angel. It was a condescending smile, one which showed his superiority over the angel as the God held an arm out to begin the procedure. "For the next time, you shall address me as 'Lord Siralos'; I should think an extra word regardless of regal standing to it is not that hard for a man like you to utter," he stated despite acknowledging the fact Hastur would never even stoop so low as to follow that command. "But you may begin. Were the portals I so graciously created with my own magic placed in secure areas where they would not be found, or have you purposely chosen to fail the mission by revealing where those portals were?"

"Both," Hastur answer plainly in a cold tone, aware of the fact Siralos already sent soldiers out to find more suitable areas for portals he himself didn't know about. However, he was counting on the fact the Gray Garden could've already inferred that from the map he left behind for them.

"You were foolish for providing that world with the means to locate our portals," Igls Unth, Siralos' daughter, an angel with a sun-like halo and pale blond hair in a wavy style down to below her waist while wearing a military uniform, remarked to condemn his treasonous action. Her eyes remained shut, having always been closed without opening because she fully believed in her father and his logic. She was also his most powerful angel, the Commander-in-Chief of his entire military force, yet her own skills were on par with Hastur's. "By choosing to fail your mission on purpose, Hastur, you have jeopardized Lord Siralos' plans for our efforts to invade and conquer the foreign world known as the Gray Garden," she added, flapping her glowing orange wings which emanated energy from the sun itself and appeared to be like the fluffy clouds throughout the Sun Heaven.

"It is of no consequence, my daughter," Siralos shut his eyes and drank his tea, addressing the angelic lady to reassure her that Hastur's betrayal meant nothing to their objectives and goals. "Our paladins are in place to protect the clerics as they reestablish the portals after they have been shut to ensure full access to that region of their world. If discovered, they will slaughter whoever's unlucky and unfaithful enough to encounter them. If the portals are shut, they can be reopened and set up in the same areas and other spaces in close proximity. Even the means Hastur gave to them to determine where the current portals are can be used to keep that world distracted and divided."

"Very well, I apologize for my outburst, Lord Siralos," Igls Unth commented with a bow.

He smiled at her. "You're forgiven. His treason is welcome for the assault, so I forgive it."

Believing there was nothing left for him to add onto his report since they already had a gist of what the rather simple mission was about, Hastur turned to leave. Yet he turned his head around to make a request he wanted Siralos to fulfill. "When you do attack that filth, leave an angel named Alela Grora to me. I shall be the one who slaughters her in the invasion. Do you understand me?"

Siralos shut his eyes and nodded, readjusting the position of his glasses. "Yes, you shall be granted your request; do be sure to leave a description of the lady with the strike force already set up. They will look for an angel matching your description and capture her so you may duel her in the theater. As there is nothing more to be noted from your brief report, you may go now." Letting the angelic man depart and slam the doors behind him, the Sun God waited until he was gone since he wanted to address those gathered around with him. "Tell me, what are your thoughts on the idea Hastur has proposed regarding his own personal goal of becoming a lone God of Existence?"

"He is a fool," one of his advisors on the Sun Council piped up to answer the inquiry. "Only you, Lord Siralos, deserve such a prestigious position for leading our world into the light. By right, it is an honor that should be bestowed upon you alone because you've more than earned the role."

"Indeed," another councilmember agreed and raised another point. "That is why we should wage war against the other deities and their heavens. They'll not take too kindly to the notion and would rather let the putrid Hells in their worlds live to cause further chaos. With Lord Siralos over them as the God of Existence, we can demonstrate proper theocratic governance over the worlds."

"Quite right," Siralos concurred with the general consensus that flowed through the whole Sun Court after they made their remarks. "But let us not put this on paper to preserve our light and position in the Heavenly Assembly. Although we might lose our right to vote there if our additional plans of using the Gray Garden as a base of operations to overthrow Fumus and place someone of our glorious Sun Heaven within his role to hinder the Hell in his world are discovered, there should be a ray of light in hope. With hope, we could regain the vote by serving the assembly better than the other heavens ever do." Everybody assembled before him all praised his planned decision.

"And what of Hastur?" Igls Unth asked, seeking clarification on the matter regarding him.

"We shall make use of him until he is useless," Siralos responded. "Then we kill him."

…

 **Affairs between Hastur and Siralos don't seem to be going well. The two of them could be considered alike in some respects from the perspective I'm taking when developing Siralos based off what I know about him from the wikia and The Sun's Curse. At the same time, the two men are also different in some aspects as well, hence their rather uneasy partnership. It made sense to use Siralos as Hastur's ally in this story because the Sun God fits with the ideas portrayed in this story about light and perspectives. While Hastur could've worked with any deity whether a canon or non-canon one, I figured Siralos was the best choice for that reason. You probably might've guessed it was him from the cues pointing to a male deity along with the two aforementioned ideas which go together with what one believes as perspectives. Each of these perspectives deals with light and how it correlates to what characters believe it means in terms of how it shapes what the Gray Garden and other worlds in existence are like.**


	10. Chapter Ten: A Difficult Decision

_There was blood everywhere, coating the floor, walls, and ceiling of the small shack. Their latest victim was a Fallen Angel, one of the traitors who had abandoned the natural law preferring peaceful harmony with demons over preserving the heated conflict between the two peoples. While his entrails were pouring out of the massive gash dealt to his body, blood pooling below him from the wounds she inflicted, his torturer stood before him and frowned somberly. Watching the corpse dangle from the chain his wrists were nailed to via railroad spikes, she stared at the guy who had not confessed to the crimes he committed against his fellow angels—the pure angels who were not Fallen Angels like him. Hastur had said confessions weren't needed because even if these victims' willpower against the pain gave in so they could denounce their coexistence with demons by saying horrible things about it, they were still to be tortured without mercy and sentenced to some hell._

 _She knew he would not show these poor fools mercy, and although Grora would follow his orders straight to the letter, that didn't mean she was unaffected by the cruel punishment they dealt upon these people on a daily basis. The guy she was instructed to flay with a whip hanging from a hook by the door which she had also used to pierce the poor man's ribcage through his chest was dead. His whole back was covered in severe burns from the hot iron she applied to his back, steam rising up from it which made her eyes water and blurred them while clogging her nostrils. Grora's loyalty to Hastur and her love for him were strong enough to inhibit the melancholic understanding she exhibited towards these people, but small cracks of it like now for instance broke through that tough molding she formed for herself. This individual in particular suffered a few of the tricks that were considered worse than other tools and torture techniques in their organization's arsenal, and it really got to her how bad the treatment was since it killed him. Now he was just a regular corpse._

 _Nevertheless, Grora would believe in Hastur to the very end when they accomplished their goals and opened Etihw's eyes to the truth so she could one day reclaim her old position as a stern Goddess against demons. She hoped that day would come, whether it was soon enough or far away in the future. The angelic lady could wait, thankful Hastur was around to help her by giving Grora a task to occupy her time while also contributing to their efforts. She was only able to go on these outings because of him and their other compatriots in True Light, their comrades in arms. They'd help provide alibis for her just as she would for them, and they'd all work together to help Hastur's goal of proving the Fallen Angels and demons under Kcalb were really trying to usurp power from Etihw for themselves. United they stood, and together they would accomplish their main objective._

 _Even if it meant stooping so low as to use guerilla tactics and torture to demonstrate their point. Such cloak and dagger secrecy was below them, yet they were forced to use it which caused some of the other members like her to feel sorry for these people. That weakness was hidden from their leader because he demanded nothing less than full conviction in their beliefs by going to such lengths for those beliefs. They were supposed to excel in that by going above and beyond the duties Hastur entrusted them with, fulfilling their responsibilities straight to the letter without fail. Grora wanted to please Hastur and stay by his side as the second-in-command of True Light, so she was going to do anything to ensure he noticed her devout loyalty towards him and undying will to serve him in that endeavor. She loved him, after all, so she felt it was only natural for her to fulfill that._

 _Still, this line of work had its drawbacks like the emotions she felt for this poor man who'd died due to the torture. With a sigh of exhaustion, she walked to the wall and leaned up against it. Wearing an apron over her clothes didn't help since the blood still got through it and stained them, and it was even on her face and in her hair as well. Blood was quite literally on her hands. Grora was lucky to have left a spare change of clothes for herself back at their base, but the smell would likely make their foes suspicious of what she'd been up to: butchering civilians from the village._

 _Beginning to tap her foot against the floor impatiently, she looked at her watch and glared at how long she spent here. Though it was already late at night, she was supposed to be on duty at the castle. Her break was coming to an end pretty quickly, and two of her comrades were not here as of yet. What could've been taking them so long was not hard to determine since they'd probably been held up by guards asking where they were going with a wheelbarrow full of the tools needed to dispose of a dead body like this one. The authorities probably asked about their chary demeanor, asking all sorts of questions that would be given false answers until the guards got too suspicious and began demanding for the truth behind their odd actions. Either that, or they could've simply hid from them; the guys did know the patrol routes and discovered the best hiding spots they could use, so perhaps Grora was worrying too much even though she herself could be discovered in here by anybody in spite of the curfew in effect due to the bloody murders their order was committing._

 _There was a knock at the door just then which still didn't relieve her concerns, so she asked the usual question required so those concerns could be allayed. "When is light at its brightest?"_

 _"When it is the True Light of heavenly angelic beings who give their all to defeat demons."_

 _It was their order's password, one Hastur concocted himself. Everything about the group's existence was all his idea as their leader. This password in particular had one answer that focused on the traditionalist ideal of conflict between angels and demons. That was the only answer to the question, and it was the correct, proper answer. Others who weren't part of their organization did not and would get it because their order's name was included in the answer. It required both parts of the name, so one word alone wouldn't count towards gaining admittance to this shack. Although the argument could be made that spies would learn it too, the only individuals who knew about the password were Hastur because he thought of it, Grora since she supervised what occurred in here while participating as well, and the associates who disposed of bodies. None of the other members realized it existed, and those who were in this shack with Grora were ordered away to leave before the guys arrived. Even other members besides them were unaware of who was selected to do the job, and regular members were always denied access back into the shack even if they mentioned who they were because of the password they didn't have. That password was a critical key of their organization, so it was valued and protected by the several individuals who knew what it was._

 _Stepping away from the wall and unlocking the latch to open the door for them, the angelic woman stood aside and held her arm out to welcome the two of them and present them with their latest assignment. "Here you are, boys, a fresh corpse for you to get rid of. Took you long enough."_

 _"Our apologies, Grora," one of them said while removing the tarp from the wheelbarrow. Upon uncovering it, she could see all the hacksaws and other kinds of tools they used alongside a set of cleaning supplies to cover up their tracks and the evidence. "We had to hide longer than we usually do. There were more guards along the route than there normally are. Patrols are the same as ever, but the frequency of how many times they come around has increased since they split up."_

 _"Fair enough," Grora murmured and stepped outside after removing the apron to toss the thing aside within so they could take care of it as well. "I'll be heading back to base via the warp slate now so I can get back to Blancblack Castle in time for work. I trust you guys will do well like always," she then added, checking to make sure they were well prepared for their part of the job._

 _"Yep, always do," the other guy commented and nodded before they went right to work on cutting the corpse down so they could chop it up and dispose of the remains._

 _Grora smiled. "Excellent, I'll leave you to it," she said, closing the door before leaving to take the same route they had to come through in order to reach the hidden warp slate because the thing was placed at an area not too far away, but not too close to the shack either so both locations could be safely hidden. That way the authorities weren't likely to discover both in the same place._

…

 _"So, how did it go? Did they arrive on time, or have they been delayed?"_

 _"Delayed for a short while due to extra guards on the patrols," Grora explained as they've begun to head through the tunnel shortly after she returned and got her things together. "I wasn't informed of that development, by the way; though I can assume Lady Etihw and the Devil kept the matter close to the chest as did Head Fallen Angel. They're probably handpicking the squads they send out and put whoever they personally want on them. A double edged sword if you ask me."_

 _"Indeed," Hastur agreed, walking side by side with his second-in-command while listening to her report on the matter. "It'll be that much difficult to put one or more of our own members on the investigative teams they've got working around the clock. However, that approach will clearly demonstrate they do not trust anyone. The Devil and his Fallen Angel brother are closing in so the two of them can kill Lady Etihw to usurp her position, further ensnaring her until they can commit the crime. We cannot let that happen, Grora, hence why your role is important; you're close to the three of them, and you must do everything you can to ensure you have full access to those fools all the time. Otherwise the chances of our success grow slim till eventually becoming nonexistent."_

 _"You've got my word, I shall endeavor to stay by their side until we can move in and open Lady Etihw's eyes to the truth," the angelic lady promised him, vowing to fulfill her duties to True Light. "I'll not give up, and I will die trying to complete our objectives in that regard. After all, an angel who is pure fights the darkness and those demons and Devils that inhabit its crevices within the shadows." Stretching her arms behind her head and resting them there, she turned to Hastur's presence besides and smiled, grateful for the opportunity to be at his side in their fight to preserve their world's traditional values. However, there was another reason why she stayed by him which she stifled until the time came to reveal it to him when their goal of abolishing the demonic garbage in this world for good was complete. Instead, she decided to ask him about other plans True Light could've thought about enacting for their people. "By the way, what are we going to do after this? Once we revive the traditional values of our people, will there be anything else our order can do?"_

 _"Mm, plenty," Hastur replied and nodded without looking at her, keeping his eyes forward on the path ahead of them as they exited the tunnel. "Once Lady Etihw's been shown the true path of our existence, fighting demons and Devils, that is, we shall turn our attention to other heavens."_

 _"Might I ask why?" Grora inquired out of curiosity._

 _"Simply put, they do not always take the fight down to the hells and underworlds."_

 _Cocking her head to the side, Grora wondered what he meant by that and figured she could request further elaboration. "So, some are kind of lazy and others don't always need to fight them. They only take action when necessary, is that right? If so, I can understand why since they do have to care for their people. So much conflict could be bad for them, hence why they need a break from the fighting. I'm sure they'll keep up their own wars and battles against the demonic scum, though it would have to be at their own pace, don't you think?" Her response was reasonable, and Grora was right that relaxation from combat was needed so the angels could regain their strength as they had to recover whatever losses and casualties they experienced. It was only logical for them to do so, yet it seemed Hastur had a different opinion about that when he spoke up to address her remark._

 _"There can only be rest after the conflict, after evil has been vanquished from existence for eternity, forevermore. Demons and Devils will always be around until the light can slaughter them before their shadows can taint it. Even were we to eliminate those from our worlds, others from a foreign world will most definitely invade ours whenever they see fit for whatever reason they even bother to think up. In fact, they don't even need a reason, or even want to have one at all. It's our goal to eradicate evil from all of existence for the angels, Grora, and heavens in other worlds have proven themselves inferior to the task. That is why we must annihilate those heavens as well so we can ensure the only angels who will support our endeavors are those who take action all the time."_

 _His explanation surprised her because Grora didn't expect he'd be so radical about those other heavens in foreign worlds. When he first brought this matter up to answer her question, she originally thought they would join forces with other heavens—some of them, anyway, because she could agree there were some others that probably wouldn't be very effective in their eyes. In fact, Hastur would probably only side with those that gained his sole approval alone. Surely he wasn't planning on obliterating every single other heaven in existence; they'd lack more allies to serve in the everlasting war against the forces of darkness. "Then who will aid us?" she asked to voice the concern, wondering what his answer would be. "We do need all the help we can get to fight evil."_

 _"Indeed, but we shall not get it from other heavens; we shall obliterate each and every one of them because they are inferior and incompetent to us. Unlike us, they hardly do anything against the darkness in their worlds. That is why they must all die as well, for they are incompetent in that endeavor." That was a harsh comment spoken in a critical tone of voice that bitterly belittled other heavens. Clearly Hastur had no tolerance for them and looked down on those heavens because the whole lot of them seemed to be useless from what he was saying. "If only they were more active…"_

 _Although it was cruel, Grora did not mind too much because it didn't really affect her aside from being a poor choice in her opinion because they could still teach the heavens to keep fighting evil darkness, demons and Devils. But she let the matter drop until a better time when she wanted to address it further since the subject appeared to be making Hastur mad. She did not want him to be angry over anything since anger was an emotion that could blind people from seeing the truth. It wasn't at all like love, a truthful feeling in which people did everything they could for somebody who truly mattered to them, preciously cherished individuals. "Yes, if only the other heavens were more active in the conflict between good and evil…" she murmured in agreement, stifling a blush because she didn't want him to see it yet until they successfully vanquished the darkness. Actually, maybe she could just put out the suggestion now and let him think about it. "We can teach them."_

" _Perhaps…" he commented, appearing to agree with the idea which made Grora smile as she was so happy that he seemed to consider it. She felt glad to be his second-in-command because she was close to him as a loyal soldier. Yet there was more to it, for she wanted to be by him even after the demons and Devils were all quelled from existence. Only then could they be together not as soldiers trying to preserve their traditional ideal of peace for angels by vanquishing evil for all those they cared about—namely their fellow angels—but as a couple because Grora did love him._

 _..._

Another memory in another dream. That was twice she'd experienced the phenomenon and felt it meant something. Grora just didn't know what it was, pondering if it was leading up to some big deal the Gray Garden would have to handle. It reminded her of how those nightmares Raspbel had affected her until they culminated in the appearance of the demon's doppelganger, Soa. Maybe something similar, yet entirely different was happening to her with the major reveal eventually on the end of whatever path these dreams were taking her on. Something was coming; she felt it was.

These past several days have been nerve-wracking on everyone with the news of a second invasion a year after the first one undertaken by Ivlis. Although everybody was better prepared for the assault since the portals they discovered so far were closed, the castle worked hard to ensure a degree of protection for Gray Village and settlements in other regions was established. For an odd reason which Grora couldn't understand too well, the portals were all situated in spaces primarily within this region of their world. None seemed to have ever been placed in the other regions, as if the invasive force Hastur joined forces with only sought to attack this place. Although the Goddess and the Devil could summon additional reinforcements from other regions, they wanted those guys defending their respective areas if the attackers ever showed up there. So in terms of being prepared to deal with this new threat from whoever wanted to assault them, the authorities only had enough troops to hold out for a while to protect the civilians who would be safe in the shelters constructed for their protection. They wouldn't be able to withhold a siege for too long, but they hoped it would work out with them managing to keep everyone safe with few to no casualties from the conflict.

Unfortunately, there was one significant problem concerning the portals. Any that had been found were immediately blocked off permanently, yet more were set up in other places. They still hadn't been able to determine why without solid evidence of the invaders' presence already being in their world to begin with. The squads out on patrol couldn't locate any enemies, let alone proof they were here. Furthermore, the portals all seemed to lead to an unrecognizable place they weren't familiar with even though they haven't gone through any due to the fact these portals were closed off to them even if they could be permanently destroyed. While they recognized portals to Fumus' heaven, Reficul's underworld, and Rosaliya's world, these led to a different place. Although it was confirmed to be an otherworldly heaven, they couldn't be sure which one despite Etihw's catalogue of deities which she wrote up herself to determine who their opponent was by narrowing down a few suspects including deities like Siralos and Elux. In spite of this major issue, they were ready.

Yet Grora could not help but feel something was wrong. If the invaders already established a small unit of soldiers in their world, where were they hiding? Certainly not out in the open; their hiding place definitely would've had to be underground somewhere, but the dungeons were empty, devoid of the invasive force. They had to have been much deeper than that, maybe a subterranean network of caverns and tunnels beneath some areas in this region—perhaps even Moreisineum. It was possible, but that place had been permanently sealed off even to anyone outside the area; even Dying Souls Mine was closed off, though both places were still under watch as were other places.

This whole problem gave Grora a headache, particularly because her old boss, whom she'd been foolish enough to think of as her love interest, was involved by working with the invaders. It was terrible, though the angel consoled herself with the idea of Hastur possibly dying in combat if they ever met on the battlefield. She hoped he met his end at last by her hands, but another person finishing the deed instead was also acceptable so long as he was slain for the crimes he committed.

Whistling to calm herself down and settle her nerves so she wouldn't suddenly snap as she really was in the mood to just punch something, Grora crossed her arms and waited for the elevator to come to a stop up at the top floor while listening to a random conversation between two demons. She didn't bother them as she was leaning against one wall, and they let her be to discuss the news. Her ride up was relatively quiet aside from their chatter, and they'd be getting off a floor ahead of her anyway. In fact, they already arrived at their destination and left while the elevator brought her up to hers. Ambling out and heading up to the double doors into the office to speak with Etihw so she could apologize to the Goddess about her outburst yesterday, the angel took the knob of a door in one hand and opened it to step inside. Her eye narrowed upon finding it nearly empty except for one individual: Ater. The Goddess wasn't present and neither was the Devil and the Head Angel.

Slowly stepping forward as quietly as she could be, the angelic lady observed the cat demon and her behavior. Ater's back was turned to her and she was at Kcalb's desk with his laptop turned around towards her so she could do something with it. From the sound of typing, it appeared Ater was busy messing with the Devil's laptop for whatever purpose she had in mind which made Grora scowl in disdain. It figured the kitty was up to something, and she bet it was probably going to get her in trouble, hence why the angel moved forward to investigate the matter so she could submit a report about the cat demon's behavior. Coming up to her now with Ater still unaware of her being right behind her, Grora peered over the girl's shoulder to see what she was up to. Apparently Ater was sending an email message through Kcalb's computer to Fumus and Reficul. While it was only one question, the angel felt she was comprehending the cat demon's motive. From what the inquiry was about, it appeared Ater was asking about a particular word that appeared to be spelled with a slight variation of two different letters: Screvera and Skrevera. The three initials were the same as the ones she saw yesterday in the family registers the kitty was looking through in the library.

Realizing how tender the issue of parental absence was with Ater, Grora figured she would let the matter slide this time even if the cat demon probably didn't have permission to use Kcalb's laptop to send this message. It was certainly rude of her to do so with him unaware, though Grora wouldn't snitch on her this time since Ater really seemed hell-bent on finding her missing parents. Watching her send the email after checking to make sure it was edited with her name signed on it, the angelic lady let out a sigh which startled Ater and made her squeak in fear while jumping away. "A-ah, M-Miss G-Grora, I-I hadn't heard you c-come in, I-I—" she stuttered timidly, scared she'd be busted for this offense when Grora brusquely waved her concern aside. Although Ater would've spoken up to explain herself to the angel, it seemed to be no use even though Grora wasn't angry.

"Spare me the damn explanation, Ater, and just tell me where Lady Etihw is, alright?" the angel inquired, surprising Ater somewhat even though the cat demon was still afraid of her wrath. It made her blink rapidly as she too began to wonder where the Goddess was. She could've checked Etihw's schedule which was on her desk, or perhaps direct Grora to it so she could calm down. An alternative—albeit one that wasn't really okay—would be to simply say she didn't know, and that was the one Ater seemed to go with to try and avoid her tormentor's rage for now. "Well, are you going to tell me if you know or not?" Grora demanded to make the cat demon speak up after silent musing on how to word her response. "If not, just point me to somebody who does, alright?"

"W-wait, y-you're not here t-to hurt m-me…?" Ater swallowed heavily, feeling as if she'd be beaten for putting forth a question instead of answering Grora's which she corrected herself on. "I-I m-mean, I-I d-don't know where Lady Etihw could b-be…" Hesitating to finish that statement, the kitty took a couple steps back until she was pressed right up against the wall. Both of her arms were drawn close to her chest, and she trembled while attempting to speak clearly even with a tone of voice that sounded shaky due to her quivering speech and stuttered words. "T-try her schedule."

"Sure, whatever," the angel took her up on the suggestion and walked over to the Goddess' desk, finding Etihw's schedule there which said she was in a meeting. "Figures…" Grora muttered under her breath and sighed in exasperation, frustrated that she had to wait for the Goddess to come back. Catching Ater still standing by the wall out of the corner of her eye, petrified with terror, she turned back to the cat demon and addressed her while leaning against the desk. "What, you've got a death wish right now for once?" Her question was along the usual lines of things she asked Ater, yet this time it came across in a casual tone without the malice known to be there when she talked to the cat demons. Although it wasn't her business, she thought she might inquire why this certain kitty was in the office by herself. "You mind explaining why you're here, or will you leave now?"

"U-um, I-I'll g-go, I-I just came in to deliver a few pictures s-some of the children drew to Kcalb. They wanted him to have them," Ater briefly explained as she tried to regain her composure in the angel's presence. It was a good answer, one Grora actually believed as she saw the pictures on the desk as well and even took note of the fact that Kcalb had a bulletin board near his desk for them just as Etihw had one for hers. "H-he wasn't in, s-so I just left them on his desk for him."

"And thought you'd send a short email to a God and another Devil?" Grora inquired, her tone indicating it was a rhetorical question that proved she caught Ater doing something she might not have received permission to do. Despite the fact Ater already realized it, the inquiry caught her off guard anyway as she tried to think of an explanation for that too. Yet it was hard because she'd be lying, and Grora believed she really was doing something behind Kcalb's back with the Devil's lack of awareness of the matter being a contributing factor to his reaction once he found out. Still, the context of the email didn't appear to bother the angel since she merely brushed it aside. "Look, I don't give a shit about what's in it, but you'd better not be doing something without permission. Otherwise I will have cause to punish you and report your sorry ass directly to Sir Devil myself."

Swallowing another lump in her throat, Ater believed she might as well tell the truth since she was caught. "N-no, i-it wasn't with p-permission, I-I just thought t-that…" Again she stopped herself from continuing, wondering if it was a good idea to continue this conversation with Grora.

"You'd look to other worlds for answers to a simple question regarding one name?"

Ater nodded nervously, fearing that Grora would snitch on her. "Y-yes."

"A name not in our registers," the angelic lady remarked and got right to the point. "I have seen you looking through those family registers in the library, Ater. I shadowed you. Do you have a particular reason why you feel this name—or word, for all I know—is connected to your family?"

"I-I d-don't know, I-I was just—" the cat demon tried to explain when Arbus came in.

"Yo, Ater, what's taking you so long? The children are asking for you," her sister remarked. "They've been wondering why you're not back yet, so I've been sent up to fetch you from here."

"A-ah, t-thank you, Arbus," Ater commented and smiled, still feeling nervous. This time it was about how she would relay what she was doing to her twin sister, unsure of how Arbus would take it. It had to do with their parents, after all, so maybe she shouldn't have if Arbus wasn't in the mood or even interested to hear what she had to say. Perhaps she had given up on them, but Ater's thoughts were interrupted when Grora suddenly spoke up to address the other cat demon about it.

"Hey, Arbus, question for ya," the angel began to speak up. "You know Screvera, right?"

Arbus blinked, confused by the question Grora posed to her. "Eh? Screvera? What's that?"

"Yeah, same word, two different spellings with only the second letter being different," the angelic lady went on to clarify the inquiry. "One's with a 'c', and the other's got a 'k'. Know it?"

Arbus shrugged and shook her head. "Nope, can't say I have. Why?"

"Ater's been wondering about it," Grora answered and pointed her thumb at the cat demon with white hair. "She just sent an email out on Kcalb's laptop without permission to other worlds."

"Oh," Arbus smirked mischievously, wondering what sort of trouble her sister got into now as she moseyed on over to the other cat demon and sidled on up to her. Her gait appeared to be an alluring trick the black haired cat demon always used to get attention from others and whenever a particular matter held her interest so long as it was related to mischief. She and Ater only sauntered that way to try and look innocent despite the fact it only made them look more suspicious to others like Grora. Now it appeared this matter was of great interest to Arbus, and she wanted in on it since she wanted to play a role in whatever it was. "Naughty, naughty, Ater. You've done something he will get mad at you for. Don't you know Lord Kcalb hates it when we don't listen to anything he's telling us? Why haven't you informed me of this latest joke? I could've helped cover for you, and I still can if you let me in on this. Come on, just say the word and I'll help you however I can."

Feeling as if she didn't have any choice in the matter since Grora ratted her out to her sister, plus she couldn't downright lie to Arbus because she deserved to hear the truth as they were sisters, Ater swallowed a third time and took a deep breath after clearing her throat. "U-um, I-I've merely been inquiring about our parents," she stated truthfully, hoping Arbus would take the notion well. Although she was aware of the fact her sister would've said to not bring them up as she always did whenever the white haired cat demon mentioned them, Ater still maintained that hope because she felt sure a sudden revelation or answer could make Arbus more open to the subject of their parents. Yet it appeared even she was wrong about that from the face her sister made—one of annoyance.

"Haven't I told you numorous times we were forbidden from talking about that, Ater," her sister scolded her for bringing up the matter once again. "You need to give it a rest, they shan't be here simply because you want them to come. Lord Kcalb promised us he's doing all he can to look for them, so we can either choose to believe in him or face the facts however depressing they are."

"N-no, w-we still need to put our faith in Lord Kcalb!" Ater protested, not wanting to make her sister mad by harping on the issue even though she was still pointing out ideas. "B-but we also need to help too because they're our parents! I-I mean, think about it, Arbus. W-what if we weren't born in this world, but another? Could that mean our parents are from a different world and we've been brought here? Though what if they came here and then gave birth to us?" She raised a bunch of good points, some even Grora had to agree with because they did make logical sense from where Ater was approaching the issue. Unfortunately, that didn't mean Arbus wanted to dwell on them.

"So? What difference does that make if we were born here or in another world? We have been told us many times by Lord Kcalb that he was not able to locate them in worlds he checked yet, but he's still searching for us on our behalf. I get this is a sensitive issue for you, Ater, but you need to let things be and maintain your happiness instead of getting all worried and sad over this."

"B-but we can't, Arbus! We still have to check and help out too, right?!"

"I know, but Lord Kcalb wants us to be happy. Wouldn't our parents want us to be happy?"

"Y-yes, I-I don't dispute that, Arbus, though we still need to find them!"

Arbus sighed, apparently realizing she wasn't getting through to her sister regardless of the statements she made to her. She shut her eyes and did a facepalm, frustrated that Ater wasn't even listening to her. "Look, just forget it, okay? Dwelling on it won't make things any better, alright?"

"I-I can't forget, Arbus!" Ater continued to whine, tears forming in her eyes as the angel's tolerance for this sappy display wore thin. Still, Grora watched the argument as her hated enemy's persistence started wearing her twin sister out. "W-what if our parents don't want us at all? Do you think it's possible they might also be dead?" Such questions hurt Ater by frightening herself into paralyzed fear because she was terrified those situations were potential realities. "I-I've a lead—"

"It is what it is, Ater," the black haired cat demon murmured somberly, possibly since she'd already come to accept those horrible beliefs as likely scenarios. Although they both acknowledged those theories, the two of them handled and reacted to them much differently than the other. While Ater was driven to tears amidst her fright and sadness, Arbus more or less seemed to let things be; a perspective her sister didn't agree with because it implied that Arbus didn't care what happened, or she already came to terms with whichever theory might've been the case. Maybe both were, so that too was a dark idea which was actually worse than the notions on their own. "We just have to wait and see, but we cannot let such issues weigh us down when we've got to lead happy lives. Do you understand what I'm saying, Ater? Besides, how do you know if whatever lead you've got can be trusted? For all you know, it could just be driving you on a wild goose chase somewhere else."

"Even so, we still have to try Arbus! How do we know whether it's true or false unless we try?!" Again, another good point which Grora commended Ater on; she really seemed to think this through in spite of losing her nerves over the endeavor due to the stressful pressure it put on her.

"It depends on where you got your info and who gave it to you," Arbus countered with one good point of her own. "Do you even know how you acquired it, or are you trying to make it up?"

"I-I…" For once in the debate, Ater was subdued by the inquiry because her sister doubted the validity of the clue she found. The white haired cat demon couldn't argue with that, fully aware of the fact her source probably couldn't be trusted. The only reason why was because of the strange lich demon she encountered in Dying Souls Mine whom was likely associated with that six-headed worm thing Soa was also most likely connected to. By that logic, the lich demon and Soa could've known one another as well. It made sense to not trust them after the Doppelganger Murders, though Ater still felt she needed to at least confirm if the validity behind Skrevera because the former had referred to her as such. She wondered if it was their family name—i.e. a surname—or a place they were from. In any case, the cat demon wondered if telling her sister was a good idea or not because Arbus could've probably rejected it based solely on the fact her source was likely untrustworthy.

"Well?" the black haired cat demon encouraged her onward to receive a response; although she continued to wait for one, a few minutes of silence passed before she sighed. Without a source, she could not comment on its validity whether it was from someone or something. The fact Ater's silence appeared to serve as the answer implied she herself was unsure of it and that she might not have even had one to begin with. To Arbus, Ater was likely making up stuff out of desperation, an idea that only sprouted in her mind because of her sister's apparent reluctance to talk about it. That was why Arbus sighed and took her sister's hand. "Just drop it, okay? If you won't share it, I can't comment on it. Let's just forget this whole conversation ever happened and get back to the daycare center. The children are probably wondering what's taking us so long, and I won't let them wait."

"B-but Arbus—" Ater tried to protest once more in vain before Arbus turned to address her again, pointing a stern finger at her sister to end the debate for good regardless of what Ater said.

"No buts, Ater, we're leaving now. I do not want to hear another word of this from you as I want to be happy, not harp on something that may or may not prove where our parents are or the fate that could've befallen them. If you'd like to live your life to the fullest and stay happy, I think you'd do well to let things be instead of trying to jam something upon us and force it to stick. You are not to bring this up, ever again, do you hear me? If we've made no ground, face the facts to get over them in time until something is actually discovered as to where they are and what happened; I swear, I will not allow myself to be dragged down into misery just because you can't give up. If you truly want this to consume you, feel free to be my guest and let it engulf you whole; just don't expect me to get pulled into your despair all because you can't deal with their absence, alright? As this is a harsh statement, I do apologize for making it, but I can't help but worry when you're like this, Ater. You're my twin sister, and I'm concerned you're letting this consume your life whole."

"She's right, you know," Grora piped up to rejoin the argument and put her two cents from a different party into the affair to side with Arbus' logic. "Don't count on me to side with ya, Ater, because I can tell your sister's got a point even if you've got some good ones too. It bugs me since I'm doing this for your own good when I really want you to rot in oblivion for all I care, though it really is unhealthy to concentrate on such matters. Take it from me, I was used by Hastur until I've opened my eyes to what he was really like, yet not once have I ever let it weigh me down until his return. You can't change the past, but you can accept it before throwing the bloody garbage away for good unless it comes back to bite you in the ass. That's also a cold matter, one you should deal with only when it comes up instead of concerning yourself over it all the time, Ater. Besides, why attempt to change something with nothing when you've got nothing to base your search on?"

"See, even Miss Grora agrees it's bad for you to think about unpleasant things," Arbus said and nodded at the angel to thank her for the input before turning back to her twin sister. "Now let's go, you don't want to keep the children waiting to get worried and cry, do you?" Her inquiry made Ater shake her head, though the white haired twin didn't say anything and looked down at the floor in shame as Arbus led her out of the office and waved goodbye to Grora. While Ater was thankful her sister cared for her and that the angelic lady had provided good advice for once rather than see the need to beat her, she couldn't help but feel conflicted over the issue. Her heart was tugging her in two different directions: towards them because she did want to be happy for them, and towards her parents because she wanted to be happy knowing them. Both options had their pros—satisfying both parties while satisfying herself—and cons—abandoning one for the other, even if both parties became happy in the long run if their parents were alive and wanted to see them. Ater did not know which choice to make, but knew both were dangerous double-edged swords that were to be handled with care. If she screwed up, she might unintentionally cause harm to everyone and herself as well.

…

His arrow whizzed through the air and made contact with its target, a wild troll he and his angelic friend had been eyeing for a while ever since they first saw it an hour ago. The beast wasn't much of a match for the steel arrow tipped in poison, and the two hunters strode forward to collect their victory after turning to smile at one another in satisfaction. One of them, the demon, brought a large dog along with him for the trek and let his pet sniff out potential prey they could catch and bring to the village taxidermist after slaying the creatures they encountered. "A good specimen; an interesting catch," the angel remarked to the demon and adjusted the position of his glasses. "This one's bound to be a scary trophy for the Halloween attraction later this year. It'll be a nice touch."

"In the dark, yeah, but let's get it over to the taxidermist for now," the demon commented, kneeling down to tag the troll after slinging his bow. With that done, they each took one end of the corpse and picked it up to take their catch back to Gray Village since they were done when the dog perked his head up and turned in the direction behind them to stare off into the distance. Only trees could be seen as they were in a small forest to the south, but the hunters realized something grabbed the animal's attention. "What is it, boy? You hear anything else? Not that we need anything more."

"I'd say we should go and investigate," the angel suggested, looking to his friend. "It might be one of the squads since I can hear somebody else talking over there. It's faint, but nearby."

"That, or maybe one of the enemy units on a patrol of some kind. We should be careful as we never know when that second invasion that's been on the news lately will occur." The demon's dog turned to them and stared at his owner while they set the troll down for now. Placing a finger on his mouth to emphasize silence, he quietly whispered a command to the dog so his pet could be quiet and remain there while they tread softly through the grass and leaves to avoid making noise.

Using the foliage and trees as cover, they went prone and gazed upon a force comprised of angels setting up a portal by a cave entrance. From the looks of it, there were ten angels there and none of them bore the Gray Garden's crest upon their military uniforms. Instead, there was a crest depicting a sun. Once the portal was constructed, the foreign angels all entered the cave while the hunters both looked at one another and quietly snuck away to withdraw and inform the authorities.

…

 **A possible lead on Siralos' forces already in the Gray Garden has been discovered, so the time for a possible conflict with his soldiers in this initial skirmish is approaching. While the authorities are focusing on that particular issue, how will Ater be able to handle hers? Is she planning on going through with the deal she made with the lich demon, or abandon it for the sake of Arbus and their happiness? A conflict is coming, one that will determine how the two matters are handled and whether these issues will both intertwine along the way or not.**

 **Also, Grora's memory in this chapter was inspired by a part from a manga series that I like called Alice in the Country of Hearts/Clover/Joker/Diamond. I don't remember which volume in particular the part comes from, but I do know the part in question features Pierce and Elliot at a location where the former has finished his duty as a cleaner for the Hatters, a mafia/mob styled faction in the series by eliminating a member from a rival mafia syndicate.**

 **This particular moment from the manga was inspiration because it will help portray what kind of order True Light is. We know it is a radically traditionalist organization that maintains violent conflict between angels and demons in a world that abandoned the natural law pertaining to this conflict, that of good versus evil. However, this also shows that True Light is a chaotic good institution in the sense that it follows the idea of ends justifying the means found in consequentialism that was used to develop Hastur. In a way, Hastur appears to be molding the organization to be based specifically on himself, and that's a likely purpose based on the fact he alone decides everything within the order. It's a good theory, though we also know Hastur used True Light as a scapegoat organization that would've taken the blame for their actions based on his. From this, we could speculate that he did this on purpose, but you'll have to see if this is the case or not later on in this story as the plot progresses onward.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Alice in the Country of Hearts/Clover/Joker/Diamond as the whole series is owned by Quin Rose, the creator of this entire series.**


	11. Chapter Eleven: Ater's Betrayal

_"You, Ater of Skrevera, are to fight the one you fear most…and lose to her on purpose."_

The more Ater thought about that term of her deal with the lich demon, the more it bothered her how simply accomplishing something by failing would've given her and Arbus the answers to a problem which plagued her throughout life. While she would've wholeheartedly done anything, the cat demon felt so confused and scared of what she had to do in order to fulfill her end of a deal with somebody considered untrustworthy. It begged the question as to why that strange lich demon wanted to help her because the motive was unclear. Was it to apologize for Soa's actions last year if Raspbel's doppelganger was indeed working with her? Did the lich demon seek to use Ater and pit her against somebody she feared on purpose to accomplish her own agenda instead of Ater's?

Lying in bed that night, the white haired cat demon turned her head to peer at the sleeping form of Arbus lying beside her in the bed they both shared. Her twin sister slept so peacefully, not perturbed by the notion of learning about their parents. Perhaps the black haired kitty really hadn't cared anymore, preferring happiness over finding their parents because she might've accepted the facts their parents either didn't want them or were dead—maybe both. While Ater understood why Arbus felt that way, she couldn't help but divert herself from the logic her sister and Grora clarified to her earlier that day when the three of them were in the office of Kcalb and Etihw. She felt she'd found something, a clue that could lead her to her parents or not in spite of the fact Arbus raised a good point about it being a possible red herring. Ater realized that and comprehended the idea very clearly like Arbus had…though that didn't make it any better because Arbus essentially suggested she should've given up on it depending on how reliable the source was regarding the matter. Since the lead came from that lich demon whose association with the six headed creature possibly meant she also knew Soa, that alone should've raised red flags. Yet Ater needed to make the effort to try.

Turning her head up to the ceiling, unable to find solace in sleep because she worried about this so much that it frayed her nerves and put the poor girl on edge, she thought about the term she received and pondered what it could've meant. She was the one who had to fulfill it; and from the reference to that other name, Ater inferred it was her surname or the name of a place she was born at with Arbus. The location wasn't anywhere in this world or others according to the research she'd done for the past several days, and no families went by that name in none of them either—at least, that pertained only to the worlds she knew, hence why she emailed Reficul and Fumus to determine if the two of them knew the name as well. She could've also written a letter to Rosaliya too if they didn't know, and she could've sent it through Macarona since the young angel was a friend of hers.

Next was the second part of the term: fighting somebody she feared the most. It could have been anybody who scared her, yet Ater felt the allusion was specifically pointing her towards Grora as that individual. It made sense since she was afraid of the angelic lady and didn't want to enrage her because that would lead to severe beatings. Furthermore, she had apologized for that accident; Grora never accepted her apology and used that incident as a primary reason for hurting her. While those reasons could've been simple coincidences, the fact remained that lich demon mentioned the individual was a female with the word 'her'. That determined the gender of the person she feared, so the cat demon believed the lich demon truly did intend for her to fight Grora. Why Ater needed to combat the angel was beyond her, though she realized that it was supposed to be an unwinnable fight because she had to be defeated on purpose by forfeiting the match or fighting rather poorly.

Ater was more than willing to go through with that for the sake of finding her parents. The hard part was actually determining how to go about it. How could she fight Grora when she didn't want to get in trouble for fighting back to defend herself? Was she simply supposed to take blows for another accident she caused against her, or did the offense need to be done on purpose? While Grora would accept any reason for her justification, did Ater need to do something that gave proper justification to the angel so Grora wouldn't get in trouble for beating her to such a bloody pulp?

These questions made her head hurt and her heart ache for a solution to this pain, but Ater's fears and concerns inhibited her from doing anything just yet because she was still so unsure. Was she really supposed to go through with this? Accepting the deal and fulfilling it from her end would possibly earn her answers as the lich demon promised, but she might wind up upsetting Arbus and the others. Forsaking it due to the unclear reliability could've saved her from a red herring, though she didn't know where else to look apart from the other worlds and the lich demon who was starting to look like the only individual Ater could've turned to for answers she sought about their parents.

She blinked slowly, thinking back to what else happened today since that might've become a possible motive she could give Grora. After returning to the lobby en route to the daycare center, Ater and Arbus overheard a conversation some guards were having with two hunters who appeared to have located soldiers from the invading force. They only saw a small group, and the hunters had also elaborated on the crest they noticed which decorated the military uniforms those angels wore. Apparently it was a sun crest, thereby indicating the angels were from Siralos' Sun Heaven which was from the very same world Ivlis and his forces came from. With this information and guidance from the hunters who led five squads to the cave where they last saw the angels before one escorted the two of them back to Gray Village, the authorities were prepared to keep that area under check, ready to defend their world from the invaders if they attacked. They would also follow the soldiers down into the cave as well to defeat them there and seal off the area so no more portals could form in that space, thus closing off one part of this region so other areas could be given more focus.

Wondering how she could use this conflict to her advantage to complete the term, Ater had begun to silently put some thought into an idea that was certainly going to get her in a lot of trouble. She would get caught doing it, but felt another chance probably wouldn't come her way later. She needed to act for her parents, but she couldn't run the risk of putting Arbus in the same danger due to the fact her twin sister didn't want a part in it. Even Arbus would be furious with her for it, and Ater was mentally steeling herself both psychologically and emotionally for what she would do to fulfill her end of the deal with the lich demon. The white haired cat demon needed to act now, and she did by getting up without alerting Arbus or waking her for that matter. Her sister did not need to know, at least not yet since she would've found out later. Quietly changing from her pajamas to her regular school-like uniform, Ater observed the black haired kitty still sleeping harmoniously.

 _"I-I'm s-sorry, Arbus…"_ she thought to herself, not wanting to voice the apology with one quiet whisper because even that could've woken her twin up. _"P-please forgive me…I-I need to…"_

And with all thought out and done, Ater tiptoed to the door and quietly opened it, stepping out into the corridor while making sure it didn't creak. Thankfully it didn't and she departed right away by flying out through an open window. To accomplish her goal, she had to become a traitor.

…

He stood beside the lieutenant leading the strike force atop a hidden plateau in woods south of Gray Village, both of them secretly observing the four squads all lining up in their positions for a conflict if one erupted between them and their fellow soldiers. Watching the angels and demons of this world preparing to defend their home, Hastur grimaced and growled angrily. He didn't like the fact these idiots he was forced to work alongside got caught, and now their hiding place within this cave system was discovered. Turning to look at Lieutenant Bern, he saw the quite stoic facial expression frown nonchalantly as if the other angel couldn't care less about this setback due to the intense faith he had in Siralos. Although Hastur couldn't care less what this man and every single one of his comrades from the Land of the Sun expressed, he despised the fact their eyes were shut tight all the time. To him, it symbolized their blind faith in the Sun God and demonstrated they all never once looked where they were going both literally and figuratively. How they managed to get around wherever they were at all was a mystery, though perhaps these men had good hearing. Too bad it wasn't enough to prevent them from getting caught, it seemed, as Hastur was keen to remind them about the problem. "This is your fault," he accused Bern and shut his own eyes. "You let this happen, you blind fool. Now they've gone ahead and informed their superiors about our position."

"It does not matter, only Lord Siralos' word carries the weight of truth and faith to it," Bern replied to brush the concern aside. The paladin held his sun sword in front of him, the tip pressing into the dirt as he stood his ground against the criticism. "This minor setback is of no concern since our army is already well prepared on the other side, ready to begin the invasion. We'd address the matter if need be, though it is not required as we start tomorrow night. This shall be quick, for our assault will be over by the dawn in two night's time—including this one—when our victory over this petty world will come to be known throughout the rest of it. Once the leaders are toppled by the glorious might of Lord Siralos, we shall lay claim to this dominion as our own and use it in an immediate second war against Fumus and his heaven to eliminate him too in the war against evil."

"Humph, whatever, just be sure you get the job done and leave Alela Grora to me," Hastur made sure to remind the man of the obligation Siralos promised to fulfill for him. "I'm to kill her."

"Yes, it shall be as Lord Siralos commanded it. His vow to that shall be kept to the best of my abilities and those of my troops, but I will not make any promises that she'll fall to your blade."

Despite disliking that he had no choice but to agree with that, Hastur merely sighed before turning around to enter a secret entrance into the cave. "Fine, I could care less anyway." He nearly was about to step through the threshold when a sudden noise caught his attention and he unsheathed his lone katana to point it at the source of that sound he heard. Although it was only the mere rustle of some bushes, the narcissistic angel knew better than to simply believe it was an animal until he saw whatever or whoever emerged from within due to passing through from the other side. Bern's attention was also seized, and he too directed his blade towards the bushes to strike out at anything. The two men waited patiently, prepared to slay the intruder if the figure was an individual watching them to spy on their movements for the Gray Garden's forces even if it led to direct conflict now.

Yet what emerged was not an angel or even a demon at all, but rather a white cat. Although Bern relaxed his weapon, Hastur wasn't convinced. "She's one of our enemies, you idiotic fool."

"I'm well aware of that already," the other angel responded, holding his arm out as he had to lower the katana for Hastur since he didn't want him to do anything reckless. He merely turned his gaze towards the cat, seemingly aware of the fact that the animal recognized his hasty comrade. Why she came here was a mystery he sought to root out, so he nodded at her as a command for the cat demon to change into her humanoid form which she did while kneeling before the two of them. "Explain yourself, demon. Why have you chosen to reveal yourself to us instead of returning right back to your allies? Answer us, or face justice of the sun from my blade right here and now." While his threat would've gotten her talking, apparently it didn't appear to be needed at all for this girl.

"G-good s-sirs, p-please don't execute me yet," she pleaded with them timidly, terrified of what she was doing even though she believed it was necessary to help her give Grora justification for wanting to fight her. She hated having to go this far for the objective of learning about both her parents, but Ater couldn't think of any other way but this in order to make the fight legitimate since she thought it actually had to be a proper conflict in spite of the fact she had to lose on purpose to the angelic lady. "I-I have come with them unaware of my presence. They do not know I'm here."

"We are well aware of that, now submit your answer to my inquiry," Bern instructed her.

"I-I don't mean to help c-cause this world's destruction, b-but I-I feel I-I need to aid you," Ater stuttered timidly, swallowing heavily because she was afraid this would go wrong as she was unarmed because she didn't bring her weapon with her on purpose to come across as helpless and willing to help them. "P-please, g-give me a chance and I-I'll prove it! L-look, n-no weapons!"

"We can see there are no weapons, but come with us," the paladin commanded her. "We're in a vulnerable location and you could very well jeopardize our position, demon." He turned to the other angel beside him and reached into his pocket to pull out a long cloth. "Cover her eyes; she'll be coming with us, and I don't want her to go revealing any details of this mission, Hastur."

"We should kill her now," Hastur retorted bitterly, not surprised this girl survived her fall.

"And risk our foes starting an attack now if this demon's indeed a spy?" Bern inquired with a rhetorical tone and held the cloth out to him. "You are under my command until our lord arrives to personally check on our fortifications within the cave. That means you follow my orders, Hastur. I shall not tolerate disobedience from you, and neither will our lord, do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir Bern," he commented, purposely giving away the lieutenant's name to the demon before taking the cloth to tie it around Ater's head prior to dragging her through the cave by force. None of them said anything as they ambled through the tunnels for about twenty minutes, leaving the cat demon baffled in a way as to where they were going. She sniffed fearfully, on the verge of tears because she felt she was going to be kidnapped when she suddenly heard another voice speak up nearby. Although she couldn't hear it well since the person was far off, Ater gradually realized it was a male voice as it came closer to speak with Hastur and Bern about their most recent catch.

"Oh my, and who might this be, I wonder? A spy from among the Gray Garden's army?"

"One who claims she seeks to aid our endeavor, Milord," Bern replied, bowing before him.

"Is that so? Bring her to the tent so I may interrogate her personally. You two come too."

"At your command, Milord," the paladin bowed his head respectfully and turned to Hastur as they followed the man whose voice sounded elegant and sophisticated. "Ensure that you do not reveal our lord's identity as you've already done with mine, Hastur. Do you understand me, now?"

"Who gives a shit whether he is Siralos or not?" the brusque angel asked bitterly. Ater just blinked when she heard that name, recognizing that the Sun God himself must've been their leader and that he must've either been heading this strike force, or had arrived to raise its moral. She did not dare speak up now because she hadn't been addressed yet, so Hastur was free to continue with his little rant against Bern. "Our foes care not who he is because they're already aware he shall be victorious over them; even if they weren't, it'd make no difference who this filthy world combats."

"Your tone and uncouth manner of speaking are offensive to my ears, Hastur," Siralos said as he entered the tent established with a large table inside bearing a map of this region and several chairs for four people in total to sit in. "Though you have a point either way. Place her in a seat."

"She doesn't deserve one," Hastur commented coldly while Bern followed the order.

"As you wish, Milord." Pulling out a chair for Ater he took her from Hastur and set the cat demon down in it prior to folding the map and removing it so she wouldn't see what it was. Taking off the cloth they used as a blindfold, he pocketed it as the girl blinked several times and looked at her surroundings before turning to the Sun God. Scrutinizing him from where she sat, Ater noticed he looked young for a God. Clad in a light brown cleric's uniform and tall black boots with large golden beads on them that were also on his white wrist collars, Siralos looked the part of a soldier against darkness. Those beads were also on the shawl-like chest piece of his uniform, and the color matched golden lining at the top of his boots and the end of his wrist collars which were connected to white gloves. A golden buckle was attached to his belt and it appeared to be a circle with a line in the radius. His brown cape had a magnificent sun badge upon it, and the inside of it portrayed about eight suns from what Ater could see. His eyes were somewhat yellow and orange, and they were covered by orange glasses. His hair appeared to match the color of his cleric's uniform.

"U-um…" Ater piped up softly, wondering where she should've began her testimony. "I-I apologize f-for interrupting your w-work sir, I-I didn't mean t-to. I-I just want to help, b-but it does p-pain me I-I'd have t-to go against my own home world," she apologized sincerely with honesty.

Siralos politely raised a hand to quell her doubts, shutting his eyes while speaking up. "That does not matter, for anyone will feel the harm from having to betray one's world. Any and all cruel repercussions shall be dealt upon your head by those you originally served, yet I shall promise the punishment you receive from me will be swift and painless. Although I must execute you for being a demon, you shall have the privilege of choosing the method of your death. That much I'll give."

"O-oh, u-uh, t-thank you s-sir…" the kitty swallowed heavily, not liking the fact she needed to die. In spite of the fact she was comforted by how lenient her execution would be, Ater couldn't come to like it since the thought made her turn very pale and silenced her from speaking further.

"Now then," Siralos began the process of interrogating her, "as Hastur has introduced you to my name, we shall start with yours. Speak your name to us, demon, so we might know you. The introduction will serve to begin the interrogation process, but talk only when answering inquiries."

"Ater, s-sir."

"Well then, Ater, explain yourself. Why is it that you wish to aid my forces? Surely you're aware of the fact that betrayal is a great crime against your world as Hastur already demonstrated." He narrowed his eyes and gazed coldly at the angel formerly from here, a condescending smile on his face which made Hastur grimace and shut his eyes, huffing rudely before turning his head away in another direction because he didn't want to face the Sun God who looked back at Ater. "Come, don't be shy, Ater. Give us the reasoning behind your actions so we can comprehend your motive."

Ater swallowed, hesitant to go through with this despite knowing she didn't have much of a choice—aside from giving up on her parents which she wasn't comfortable doing. "Y-yes, s-sir, I-I shall," she promised and took a couple deep breaths before beginning her account. "I-I need to f-find my p-parents, s-sir. My t-twin s-sister, Arbus and I-I never knew them. I-I just want to know who they were and why they're not in our lives." She shut her eyes tight and pressed the palms of her hands together, bowing her head as tears began to form in her eyes. "P-please, s-sir, I-I've got to help you, i-it's the only way I-I can think of! I-I know what I-I'm doing is wrong because it's a matter of treason, b-but p-please let me help! T-that's all I-I ask of you!" the cat demon begged.

"Interesting…" Siralos remarked and leaned back in the chair he sat in across from her. He put a bent index finger to his chin as he considered her proposal. "Might I inquire why you believe offering your services to my army in the invasion of your world will help you find those long lost parents of yours, Ater? Surely there must've been other options you could've chosen to search?"

"Lord Kcalb hasn't b-been able to find them in his own investigation on our behalf, s-sir," Ater briefly explained to clarify the topic, "and I-I fear Arbus has accepted the fact they might not want us anymore or have died, b-but I-I can't! I-I need to know why they're gone, s-sir, a-and I've already made a deal I-I'm enacting upon to try and find them, or at least know more about them."

"Is that so?" Siralos inquired, shutting his eyes and pondering on the last part of her remark. "I can sense your intentions about locating them are pure, Ater, though your statement about a deal perplexes me for I have no recollection of ever making any sort of deal against your home world." Opening his eyes, he turned to the paladin lieutenant and put the question to him. "Do you, Bern?"

"No, Milord, unfortunately I do not. However, if I may, I'd like to propose a theory which might or might not explain the notion. As I suspect this may be her first meeting with you, perhaps the deal was made with someone else—this twin sister, Arbus, of hers, maybe—in the distant past. The one who proposed it along with the terms of that arrangement may have been forgotten due to it probably being a one-time affair, hence why you might not remember it until now when this has refreshed your memory of such a deal," the paladin explained his logic that could possibly clarify it when Ater suddenly interjected to clear up the details of her statement, specifically the deal.

"N-no, s-sir, I-I've never met anybody from the Sun Heaven before, and neither has Arbus for that matter. I-I've only received the term I-I'm to follow from somebody else I-I made it with."

"Oh, and who might that be?" the Sun God asked and encouraged her to elaborate further.

"A lich-like girl, s-sir, p-possibly an undead demon. I-I met her after fighting Hastur."

"A lich demon, I take it?" This too perplexed Siralos, for he had never heard of an undead being—especially a demonic one at that—seek to establish a deal that would benefit a heaven. The idea was a strange notion to him from the perspective of a holy being who considered the proposal blasphemous unless the undead creature sought some form of redemption. Although his stance as both a cleric and a God dictated his opposition to such undead monstrosities, Siralos couldn't help but feel as if something peculiar was seeking some sort of audience with him. "One who sought to propose you aid me in return for providing you clues regarding your absent parental figures?"

"I-I was t-told specifically to fight the one I-I fear most, s-sir," Ater explained meekly and went on to elaborate. "I-I believe it's Miss Grora whom I-I have to fight and lose to on purpose."

Hmmm…an odd deal, I'd have to say," the Sun God commented, but clearly figured out a possible motive for Ater's compliance with his forces. Apparently she elected to help him because she felt this might've been a method of fulfilling that arrangement. As it had nothing to do with it, the invasion could carry on without the concern of handling this unknown lich demon, whomever she was. Still, Siralos felt he should've looked into the matter lest it somehow be a trap to ensnare him and the army under his command as he and Igls Unth would personally lead the assault. Ater's silence on the topic indicated she must've acknowledged that too despite going along with the plan for the sake of her goal. Nevertheless, he decided to welcome her aid all the same. "But very well, you may offer us your support since I can sense your intentions are quite firm in this regard."

Swallowing as she was still afraid of going through with this, Ater nodded to thank him for the opportunity. "T-thank you, s-sir. W-what would you like me to do for your cause?" she asked.

Siralos shut his eyes and smiled, resting his head atop the back of his hands with the elbows on the table. "I require no information from you, Ater, for Hastur has already provided me with an assortment of facts that are already satisfactory. Even so, more analysis is welcome if you provide it too because aspects of what I already am aware of may have changed over the course of time. It is not a major concern at this point in our little invasive war against the Gray Garden, though I will leave the decision of turning further information over to you. What I would like for you to do now that I'll have an agent in their main stronghold is establish portals somewhere within there. Doing so can provide us windows to enter from that point if they do not sense the creation of those portals; even if they were sensed and closed off one by one, it shall distract them from other portals outside that sphere. For example, say we have two portals in Blancblack Castle and ten in the surrounding region; they surely have to take away their focus from two of the ten portals for the two in there."

Ater nodded. "I-I can do that, b-but how will I set them up?"

"Lieutenant Bern will see to it that the scroll for our portals are provided to you. All you're required to do is unfurl it and the sunlight imbued within the parchment shall emerge to do all the work from there," the Sun God explained to her while holding his hand out to ensure the paladin's presence was still there because he wanted Bern to hear the entirety of this interrogation. "You do not need to worry about anything else, Ater, aside from avoiding the eyes of your associates. Still, I do find it odd that you're not making any requests of me in this arrangement despite the deal you already established with a lich demon to fulfill your own objective. You are using our invasion to fight the one called Alela Grora, someone whom Hastur claims used to love him, for your parents."

"O-oh, I-I didn't realize that I-I needed to make a deal with you as well," Ater apologized. "S-sorry, b-but could you perhaps spare Arbus and the citizens? I-I don't want them to suffer from my mistake." Her term was reasonable, so Siralos considered holding his word to it when the kitty spoke up with another term. "A-also, if you happen to know anything about Skrevera, I-I would appreciate it. Is there something to write with?" Ater's head turned in all directions, slowly looking around the tent for paper until Bern provided her with a pencil and a parchment of paper for her to jot down the name. Handing it to the Sun God, she let him examine the two different spellings of it for a few moments as he pondered if it was familiar to him in some way or not. Yet it wasn't.

"I have never heard of this before, that I am sure of," he remarked. "What does this mean?"

"I-I assume it's my surname or the name of a place associated with Arbus and I somehow," the kitty replied. "I-I checked the registers in the castle's library for this world and others we know of through commercial ties, but they didn't say anything. The lich demon referred to my name by calling me Ater of Skrevera, so I-I think she probably knows more about this than others might."

"Possibly an associate of sorts connected to you in some way," Siralos concluded and chose to put another term on the table he wanted her to fulfill. "Considering how you chose to overlap a deal with a lich demon to the one you and I are making now, I would like to know more about who she might be. If you are discovered in the process of opening a portal in the castle and it's already fully opened, you may come through it as it shall not only lead to my heaven—which I am closing off to you, by the way—but back here as well. I must return to the Sun Heaven now and bring him with me," he referred to Hastur and pointed at him, "so I'll leave you to escort Lieutenant Bern to the lich demon later for the purpose of ascertaining her identity and how she fits into this equation."

"I-I can t-try," Ater vowed, "t-though it might be difficult since the only path I know of to her was through Dying Souls Mine. From what I-I've been told, the route collapsed when I fell in a pit. I-I've heard of another way through an underground city called Moreisineum that is no more now due to having also been ruined. Although that place is uninhabited and sealed, I can try to get us in there to meet with her since the way itself might not entirely be destroyed. Is that alright?"

"That should be fine, Ater," Siralos said while standing to depart with Hastur. "Now if you will excuse me, I must return to the Sun Heaven with him now. I leave it in capable hands, Ater—that is, you must prove yourself capable instead of spying on us, for Bern shall give you something which can determine if you are really a spy. What it will do is explode and slaughter you wherever you stand, the charge powered by sunlight. If it detects even a hint of betrayal from you towards us, you shall die in immolation of fire directly from the sun. Do you understand that much, Ater?"

Ater swallowed and shuddered, but still nodded to show she did comprehend it. "Y-yes."

"Good," the Sun God complimented her with a condescending smile as he turned to depart with Hastur right behind him. "I am looking forward to the results of our collaboration, Ater." As the two men stepped out of the tent to leave the cat demon in the lieutenant's hands, the angel from this world glared at Siralos and growled at him, disapproving of his decision to make that deal. "It is your decision to complain about it all you want, Hastur," the Sun God chided him casually. "I'm free to decide what I want to do about her requests, so I shall fulfill them as she's only one demon."

"You shouldn't have granted that little shit those privileges," Hastur retorted coldly.

"I did, and I will," Siralos responded. "It doesn't matter. I'll have one of my generals watch over this world and govern it in my name. The citizens shall not be harmed as Ater requested. They will, however, be under the iron rule of the sun through the general under me, and all shall receive equal treatment for choosing to come together harmoniously—i.e. in the form of punishment which shall be handed down by me through said general. These people worked hard for a living, and they shall continue to do so in another form once I've secured victory over their Goddess and the Devil."

Although Hastur didn't like Siralos' stance towards demons, it did give him an idea.

…

Not too far away from where the angels from the Sun Heaven set up camp in the cavernous space, a lone, pink haired figure in a black dress and white tights was perched on a stalagmite. The color of the latter part of her attired matched the color of her cuffs and collar while the black dress matched the mary janes. Of her clothing which mostly consisted of these two colors, the only red article was a ribbon tied around her neck. Her eyes, both pitch black with red circles and red pupils, observed the kitty exiting the tent with the paladin shortly after the Sun God himself departed with the other angel. A smirk crept along her face as she grinned wickedly. _"Oooh, visitors. I can't wait to tell big sis!"_ With that said, Soa turned to leap off her perch and slink away into the darkness.

…

Her eye skimmed over the report, reading over it carefully after having received an analysis through her email. Scrolling down with the mouse, she read it carefully to ensure she was reading it correctly. According to the appraiser who examined the enchanted shortsword she discovered in the ogre's chest where Hastur likely left it, the enchantment on it was on fatal enough to critically wound a deity if stabbed in the back with it. Another usage for it was to slit the throat of said deity. Regardless of whichever method was used, the fact that interested her was that the enchantment's power came from demonic power. That cinched it for Grora as she now knew Hastur did intend to leave it behind as she and Etihw theorized. This was the weapon he wanted them to use on Siralos, the confirmed God whom he appeared to be working with as evident by the sun crest seen by those hunters who were lucky enough to have caught that detail and a location where the enemies were.

That answered a lot of important questions pertaining to its purpose and why Hastur turned it over to them. The only questions it raised, however, were where he got it from and why he even resorted to it. Knowing her old boss, it was probably a last resort he was forced to use like how he was forced to use True Light as a scapegoat to demonstrate a sick point of his own. Grora was glad to have potentially solved that latter mystery, even if she was still uncertain of the blade's origins.

With a heavy sigh, she ran a hand through her hair and leaned back in her seat, wondering how Hastur planned on enacting this assassination attempt. Siralos probably had his eyes on Hastur and the angelic man's movements, paying close attention to what he did and didn't do. She was in fact positive they were not on good terms and that the Sun God managed to place himself in quite a better position over Hastur which infuriated the angel to no end. Although Grora hated how that deity was invading their world much like the Devil from his own world, she couldn't help suppress a smirk because she found it funny how the man she used to look up to and love was in hot water. "Sucks to be that asshole…" she chuckled, swiveling around towards the dartboard hanging on her wall and preparing a set of darts she collected from her nightstand. Taking careful aim, she tossed each and every single one of them; all the darts found their target right by the center, and her smile widened just a bit at how good her accuracy was. It was tough without the depth perception of her lost eye—no thanks to Ater—but Grora had to admit it was helpful for lining up the sights of those silver arrows she used. Not that she would even admit that to Ater either, or even give more thanks.

The clock struck three and she swiveled around towards it, gazing at the cuckoo clock with a bland stare because she was waiting for her friends and Lady Etihw to arrive. Kcalb and Wodahs were busy addressing the troops they assigned to protect Gray Village, so neither of them could be here at this time. Tapping her fingers against the desk, she then stood up to collect the darts as her bedroom door opened. Admitting themselves in, she smiled at the sight of her friends arriving, but frowned slightly when she noticed the Goddess come in and lean against the far wall by Mitchell. "Ah, good, you guys made it," she welcomed them with another smile as they all made themselves comfortable with Rorin claiming a seat on her bed and Othros pulling out a chair at the table. "This is a pretty bold invasion much like the last one, though we're more prepared to deal with this one."

"I'll say," the bat demon agreed with the bold statement and folded his hands together since he was waiting for her to address the subject of their meeting. "Now that we're all here aside from Kcalb and Wodahs, I'd say we might as well get ourselves started. So, what's this about, Grora?"

"Yes, let's begin," Grora commented sat down to swivel the chair around to face them. She looked up at the Goddess' presence and frowned again, feeling the need to get that apology out of the way because she hadn't been able to deliver it yesterday. "Sorry about that argument the other day, Lady Etihw. I shouldn't have gotten a little heated over it, but let's focus on the task at hand."

"Apology accepted," Etihw replied, not smiling because she was taking this topic seriously like the rest of them were as well. "Still, do proceed with the subject of why you've requested our presence when we've got the Sun God breathing down our necks. Surely we could address this in my office instead of here, but that's just me. Anyway, carry on with your procedure, Grora."

"Already on it, for this discussion does pertain to the invasion anyway. I just got word back from the appraiser on the shortsword; it's got a demonic enchantment on it to wound or kill a deity. I'd say Hastur definitely left it there so we could slay Siralos with it if need be as his last resort to off the Sun God. Only problem is where he found the thing, but that can be put aside for right now since I want to update you guys on how the mission's going over at their hideout in our world."

"And how are the squads doing? Did you replace them with the day shift squads like I had suggested the other day?" Rorin inquired while the angelic lady nodded to answer his questions.

"Doing well as a matter of fact. I've just given them clearance on entering the cave once a set of four more squads arrive at their location. They'll be doing reconnaissance to determine how many angels from the Sun Heaven are present. Fortunately, I've also granted them permission for engaging the enemy in combat should they find themselves under attack. I'll join the affair as soon as this is over because I'm heading over with the four squads set to go there," Grora explained.

"Ah, so you'll be leading the assault and have asked for us to be here as members of a war council of sorts, is that right?" Mitchell inquired to which the angelic lady nodded to confirm it.

"Yep, I'll be heading this expedition into the cave to lead the troops as they search for those enemy soldiers Siralos placed in our world to determine how large their current force is along with what purpose they came here for. While I'm sure his own excursion into our world is small at first because this invasion was supposed to have been secret to us, and that its main objective was those portals being established, we need more information. We have to find out what their intentions are and what they're planning for our world during the assault, how they'll go about it, and afterwards following their hypothetical success. In other words, we're cautiously making our move as Siralos already made his first by attempting to invade our world like his Devil did. He may not have even bothered to declare war against us just like Ivlis, hence the assumption for him moving first."

"I wish you luck with the endeavor, Grora, but what would you like us to do? Will we join you on this mission, or do you have other assignments for us to handle while you're away?" Othros inquired, wondering how his friend was going to handle the situation with their aid in her plans.

"I'm glad you asked," Grora smiled at him before going over the next part of her discussion with them. "Othros, as one of your specialties is the distribution of information, I'd like for you to work with the communications department where our messages will be sent so you can relay word of our progress to Lady Etihw and Sir Devil through Head Angel." She turned to address Mitchell next. "Mitchell, you'll work with the squads that are currently searching for portals; help them all establish a framework consisting of where each portal is and how far apart the spacing is between each of them." Then the angel swiveled to Rorin. "Rorin, since you are one of our finest warriors, suit up and head down to join the guards protecting Gray Village if the Sun God's forces determine if now or sometime today is ripe for their attack. We need to defend the citizens and shelter them."

"Certainly, I'll get right on it now if you'll excuse me," Rorin commented and stood to go out and begin the duty Grora assigned to him while everybody else remained for the war council.

"Good luck to you and the rest of the guards down there," Grora wished him luck and then turned to end this part with the Goddess. "Lady Etihw, as you are a deity, you may know Siralos."

"I do, though I only met him once during his coronation ceremony a while before the war's end," Etihw explained briefly since she caught the implication that Grora wanted information from her regarding the Sun God. "His predecessor was an acquaintance of mine, but all deities are meant to attend each other's coronation ceremonies. From what I heard through his predecessor, Siralos' rise to power in his heaven was determined by sunlight. The sun is the center of religion in Siralos' world, aptly named the Land of the Sun. It selected him as the new deity during a particular rite of passage in which the candidates stand in the middle of a mural depicting the sun. If it shines down on a specific candidate, that individual will become the new deity of that world. That's all I know."

"Good to hear even though it doesn't really apply to the invasion because we must acquire information pertaining to his character, his personality, so to speak," the angelic woman responded.

"If it's that kind of info, I can lend a hand," Mitchell offered as he spoke up. "Back in that old guild of mine, we fought for a number of clients. Several were against the Sun Heaven and its forces, a few of which were against Siralos himself, hence why I'm familiar with the man. Yet the most surprising part of this which I've learned from those contracts is that Siralos isn't above using demon mercenaries against other demons. He sends them in to do the dirty work, then lets his army go forth to wipe up what's left of both sides to make himself and his heaven look good. Why, even my own guild was once contracted to fight on his behalf; however, all of our brethren in the guild survived both the enemy assault and his own. It's what led to a series of intense raids in a little war the guild took up against the Sun Heaven, all of which we secured victory in with little casualties."

"Quite surprising indeed," Othros remarked and posed a question to him. "How was it that your guild was successful? I imagine an army would be better trained than a guild due to possessing better means and resources required to secure victory in combat besides the experience they need."

"No denial there, though my former comrades in the guild were some of the most viciously intense berserkers, warriors, and barbarians you'd have ever laid eyes on. Sure, there were certainly some spellswords and assassins like myself, Cherryblood, and even Lowrie since I know him from there. It was a shame we couldn't get through to the barbaric members to let them know it would not serve us any good to start a war with the Sun God. Although I eventually gave in as my close friends eventually decided to join the rest and aid them—only enjoying the bouts with the soldiers, mind you, for they and I didn't attack civilians whereas others like Idate and Leopold did—we did end up fighting in the raids. Siralos sent out his refined army, but their trained tactics were useless against a professional guild of marauders known for their bloodthirst and savagery in battle. We'd only experience one loss of life or two in combat, but we'd fully obliterate the soldiers sent out to kill us and leave no survivors. It became so bad for Siralos he eventually decided to admit defeat."

"Must've been tough accepting the fact his own army had their asses handed to them by an assortment of demons," Grora commented, putting a bent finger to her chin as she pondered if that would've been helpful to their current predicament. "Way I see it, he toyed with something he had no idea how to handle because this was something unique. Unlike other mercenary bands that may have survived in poor shape due to the conflict they were in, your guild was in much better shape."

"That's what contributed to our success; we lost nobody to the initial conflict against other demons from the Flame Underworld, a faction not associated with Ivlis if I recall correctly. Siralos sends his forces in, we crush them easily as retaliation before the raids began. That made him look bad because it was the first mistake he ever made as a God, so he admitted he was at fault and gave in after experiencing defeat after defeat against us. The loss of faith in him was enormous from the gossip I've heard, and he's had a difficult time reclaiming it all. It was his only mistake, and Siralos definitely learned from it based on what I understand. He doesn't take chances anymore, and now his army is in much better shape and a little more professional; still, I think he might not be as well in that regard. After all, this conflict between Siralos and my guild took place I'd say roughly forty years after this world declared peace; in his world, our conflict lasted for about four hundred years or so. His forces may be a little better, though I imagine they're not all that strong based on this."

"Long story short, his military power was only geared to be shown off instead of being put in direct combat," Etihw surmised once Mitchell finished his explanation. "If we take a timeframe into account, we've got centuries worth of experience from our war and after it too. He has less."

"Under the circumstances Mitchell has mentioned," Othros continued with the notion, "he is probably still inexperienced to a certain degree in the way of warfare. Forty years translates into being four centuries in his world, so if Siralos has only begun to learn of it then, he'd have several centuries of experience by this time; whereas we'd have much more. Then again, that's just merely an estimate on my part based on the implication Mitchell provided. We also must take into account Siralos' actions and behavior towards demons and angels of other worlds. Concerning the former, he may have viewed them as tools until Mitchell's guild proved that idea wrong in a way, thereby now being more careful with how he handles them. Whether he decides to kill them or maintain a firm reign over them is yet to be determined. As for angels, we must assume he'd be against those he considers Fallen Angels; hence why he might not show mercy to the angels of our world. Now, this is just another speculative theory of mine like the estimation about time with experience, but I do think he might also view Fumus and his heaven in the same light if we plan on getting allies involved. We've no proof of that, so we can't go to Fumus to request aid from him as of yet."

"Right, and even then, looking to him will be a last resort if we can't handle Siralos," Etihw remarked once he was finished with that explanation which made Grora sigh in casual frustration.

"A last resort, eh?" the angel inquired rhetorically, resting her elbow on the desk while her cheek was pressed against the palm of her hand. "Somehow that makes me feel like Hastur's idea of using last resorts is rubbing off on us. I mean, I know it's a pleasant notion unlike what he thinks of all the time whenever he's desperate to get what he wants, but still, this too is unpleasant. Now, I've got nothing against requesting aid from Fumus since I think it's a good idea to enact upon due to us being unable to fight off Siralos on our own if it ever comes to that. Even so, the fact that we are considering it a last resort makes us similar to—in spite of being better than him—Hastur with regards to how he'd handle it. That's just how I feel, basically, so don't mind that opinion of mine."

"We're all for asking for help from our allies in other worlds if necessary when we're going up against a threat we can't handle," Mitchell concurred with her assessment, "though we still have to try and handle it ourselves from a neutrally diplomatic standpoint at first. If that does not work, we can always defend ourselves if conflict ever breaks out. Yet even we would have to get help at times when we really require it. Depending on how this invasion plays out, we may not require it."

Othros nodded in agreement. "That's if we don't need to unless we have to. To refer to the idea I just mentioned about Fumus getting involved, I believe it'd be right to let him know if Siralos has plans to invade his heaven too if we discover any. To do so would strengthen the bond we have with his heaven and make us better friends because it'll show we also care greatly for him and his people too. Therefore, I believe that is an advantage we should enact upon for the sakes of Fumus' heaven and the Gray Garden. After all, there is strength in unity and friendship here and in worlds apart." His idea was a good one which everybody murmured in agreement with when the computer on Grora's desk beeped to let her know she received an email from someone on one of the squads.

"Looks like everybody's getting ready for the excursion," she stated and stood up after she let the laptop shut down before closing it. "That means I'll be heading out now as should all of you as well. We've got to do everything we can to protect our world and our people from this threat."

"Yes, we certainly must," Etihw agreed when she suddenly perked up in surprise.

"What is it, Lady Etihw?" Mitchell asked as the Goddess hastily looked at the door in shock and rushed over to open it. "Has something suddenly come up? What did you sense just now?"

"A portal's been opened in the castle!" Etihw exclaimed and motioned for the three of them to follow her out. "I could feel it being established just now! The Sun God's forces must've made it into the castle! I can feel it just a couple floors below us, we have to hurry there immediately!"

"Already on it," the angel responded with a sense of urgency as she looked to Othros. "Go down to the communications department right away to stay in touch with the squads regarding the portal in here and any others elsewhere around the area and within the perimeters of this interior."

"Understood, I'll make my way over there right away at once," the bat demon commented and hurried to the elevator while Etihw led Grora and Mitchell to the stairwell and rushed through the threshold. Taking the monkey demon's waist in her grasp by wrapping an arm around him, the Goddess picked him up and levitated down to the floor where the portal was opened while Grora's wings flapped as the angel followed them. Arriving there straight away, the three of them quickly walked through the doorway and proceeded down a corridor before turning a corner where several guards of angels and demons were already waiting. With them was an angelic medium closing the portal while the rest protected her if any enemy soldiers invaded the castle through the portal.

"What's the situation?" Etihw demanded as she approached, sharing a sense of urgency the entire staff must've felt by now since word was beginning to circulate as employees present began to head off in different directions and towards other floors to spread the word. "How did this portal form in here? I thought Siralos' forces were still at the cave and other possible locations throughout the region. Have any of them sent possible secret agents through here to infiltrate our stronghold?"

"We've no idea, we only just passed by this moment when the medium with us felt it open from another room," one of the demonic guards explained to her. "All the people we did see in the hallway here are all employees of the castle, and it took us only seconds to step through that door." Saying this, he pointed towards a door leading into the science department, specifically the center on chemistry. "Our assumption is that this portal was established remotely from far away. Yet we also acknowledge the fact somebody from among our faculty may have gone over to the other side because the number of employees we've seen was far too small for a foreign agent to hide among."

"Wait, we've got a traitor amongst us?!" Grora exclaimed in anger, mad that somebody of their side was betraying them. "Either that, or mind control, right?" she asked just to check on that.

"No, Siralos doesn't specialize in mind control," the Goddess stated, knowing that it meant one of their own did indeed become a turncoat who had gone over to Siralos' side and joined him. "Thankfully this portal's been closed right away so none of his soldiers can infiltrate the castle by this route. Mitchell, I'd like for you to go through the castle and round up any mediums and fellow guards you can find. Assign them all in squads and set them up in key points around the castle."

"Sure, I'll get right on it, Lady Etihw," he promised her and went off to do just that at once.

"We should check the camera for this hallway," Grora suggested as she stepped up to Etihw and offered the idea to her. "In case it is a backstabber, we should be able to find whoever it is."

"Very well then," the Goddess agreed to the idea and brought Grora over to the elevator to investigate the theory after quickly addressing the guards there to remain on standby in the location in case another portal opened up nearby. Pressing the call button, she let it come to the floor as the two of them then entered and rode the thing down to the lobby where the security office was. Upon stepping out, the two of them strode right over to the place and opened the door to step inside while the guards were already preparing the footage. "You there," she spoke to one of the demons present at the monitors, "change the footage to the sixth floor so we can see who constructed the portal."

"Already on it," she remarked while in the middle of the task assigned to her. "We just got word about that now as a matter of fact, so you're both right on time to view it. Let's see here, who happened to be on that floor at the time?" Having asked that question, the screens on two monitors she was in front of showed two sets of four different camera feeds. Half were for the departments, and the other half showed the hallways. "This is the footage that was just captured on film then."

"There's the guards who arrived on the scene with the medium after leaving the department on chemistry," Etihw commented and watched as they all took notice of something they must have heard following a bright flash out in the corridor. "That was just a couple moments after the flash."

"That was the portal," Grora uttered and motioned for the corridor cameras on that floor to be shown on a bigger monitor. "Let's see just how it was set up." Watching the four sets of footage show up, she gestured for the one in the upper left corner to be enlarged to fit the entire screen. As they observed the footage from just before the portal opened up, the angel's eye widened slightly. "That's Ater," she observed, pointing out the fact as they all saw the lone cat demon amble out of a bathroom by herself without Arbus present. "What the hell's she doing there all by herself?"

"Focus, Grora, you mustn't let your hatred of Ater paint her as the suspect," Etihw scolded her for even thinking the cat demon might've been the alleged traitor if one was around. "Still, I'm wondering why Arbus isn't with her. They're supposed to be in the daycare center together, right?"

"I was passing by the bathroom on this floor and chatted with a janitor for a while," one of the angels in the room piped up to explain that. "He said the floor had to be cleaned, so I guess she must've heard it too because she stepped out of the daycare center and was walking in the direction where the bathroom was located. Perhaps she rode the elevator up to the sixth floor to go there."

"There are plenty of bathroom stalls on the floors in between here and there," Grora stated to try and disprove that theory, somehow getting the feeling that Ater really was the perpetrator.

"And what if somebody else was in the elevator and happened to go there too?" came quite a logical challenge from Etihw who wanted the angelic lady to focus on the task at hand. "Clearly you're allowing yourself to believe she's the perpetrator when you must consider this logically."

"Well, logically there might be a traitor amongst our ranks and I suspect it is her." Grora's argument was only based on a gut instinct, one which she believed was true not just because of the fact she hated Ater. "She could've simply pressed the second floor button if she had to go that bad. I'd bet my money it's definitely her because she wouldn't wait that long just to use the bathroom, even if it was polite to let whoever was going up there off first. On the flipside, anyone else would be polite enough to let her off at the second floor. That fact alone should explain this problem."

The Goddess sighed, realizing she had to acknowledge that notion as correct. "Yes, I shall admit it is a bit odd, but that in of itself doesn't necessarily prove Ater set up the portal for Siralos."

"Then let's wait and see, shall we?" Grora offered her the challenge to prove her theory of Ater's innocence right by turning to another employee. "Play the footage now, if you will."

"Certainly," the demon she addressed replied, having paused the footage while the Goddess and the angel debated the merits of Ater being a possible suspect. As everyone there watched what the camera caught after rewinding it by just a few seconds, they saw Ater exit the bathroom. While her loneliness and the fact Grora just proved were put forth, they nevertheless allowed the footage to be the deciding factor. Keeping their eyes on the camera feed, they observed the cat demon had something in her hand which she might've used to dry them. She ambled in the opposite direction from where the camera was looking, unaware it was recording her activities. Then the unthinkable happened when Ater stopped suddenly and, when nobody was looking since they weren't paying any attention to her, did something to cause a bright light to flash where she'd been standing. Grora narrowed her eye while Etihw's own eyes widened in shock at what they all just witnessed on the security monitor: Ater was indeed the one who had somehow constructed the portal in that corridor.

"See?!" Grora turned abruptly to the Goddess and pointed an index finger at the footage of Ater establishing the portal that was just closed. "I knew that little shit was the treasonous bitch!" Saying so, she stormed out of the room and left a bewildered Etihw standing there temporarily for a few moments before the Goddess exited the room with her to follow the enraged angelic woman.

"W-whoa, Grora, just hold on a minute!" she tried to plead with her. "Just calm down and think this over for a bit. Why would Ater of all people be the traitor? How could she do this act?"

"I don't know, and I don't give a shit any longer! That little shit is so dead for this!" Grora spat back at her without turning around when they ran into Arbus at the daycare center on the way to the stairwell. "I've told you time and time again she deserves to be punished! Now it's justified!"

"Huh? What's going on, Lady Etihw, Miss Grora? Has something happened?" Arbus asked as she started walking with them, curious to know what was going on because she hadn't received the news yet as she was busy wondering where her sister was. "Where's Ater? Did you see her?"

"Damn straight we saw your bitch of a twin sister screwing us over!" Grora retorted when one of the employees from the security office ran up to give them a walkie talkie to stay in contact.

"Huh, what?" Arbus blinked, eyes wide in surprise as Etihw addressed the matter for her.

"Now, Arbus, I need you to listen to me very carefully. A portal was just opened to provide Siralos and his forces an opportunity to directly enter the castle for their invasion. We just shut it."

"Wait, they're trying to get into the castle? What about your stones, Lady Etihw?" the kitty inquired since she wondered how it was possible for an invader to bypass those. "They can't open up portals anywhere because your stones are all set up to protect our world. That's impossible."

"Not when the one leading the invasion is a deity it seems," the Goddess surmised. "Maybe they weren't configured correctly since the last time we were invaded, but I'll check them later. It was a glaring flaw I should've considered when the portals first began appearing, but I hadn't even thought of it then because I was busy focusing on trying to help the citizens and stop the attack."

"I'm sure they were, and if not you'll be taking responsibility for that," Grora also made a statement of a similar nature to Etihw's hypothesis. "Still, that doesn't change the fact that Ater is the bloody traitor we're looking for! I knew she was up to no good the second I saw her on screen!"

"Whoa, what just happened?" Apparently Arbus was still somewhat confused because she didn't know how this pertained to her sister. Other than being aware of the angel's hatred for Ater, she was completely oblivious to how much trouble the white haired cat demon got herself into. "I don't understand. What did Ater do to piss you off this time, Miss Grora? Surely nothing that bad."

"Oh, it's bad enough—no, scratch that, it's much worse than you could possibly imagine!" Grora shouted and seized the black haired cat demon by the shoulders. "Ater betrayed us, Arbus!" She got right in the girl's face when she uttered that grim revelation. "Your bitch of a sister opened the damn portal! She's the one responsible for attempting to let Siralos' damn army into the castle!"

Arbus' eyes bulged out of their sockets in horrified shock as Etihw pulled the angel off her and ushered them both into the stairwell. "W-what?! Ater did what?! N-no, t-that's just crazy!"

"Crazy and stupid!" the angelic woman retorted to her. "Though it's still the damn truth!"

"As much as I hate to admit it, Arbus," Etihw spoke up calmly as they began to ascend the stairs, leading the two girls behind her towards an upper floor in the hopes of catching up to Ater, "she's right for once about your sister. Ater did indeed open the portal, and I can confirm that since I was there to witness it happen via the camera feed in the security office." Although she spoke in a calm voice to retain a collected manner so she could try to set Arbus at ease, the Goddess couldn't help but panic inwardly because she still had difficulty believing Ater was the perpetrator. "While I'm not fond of the situation either, you can be rest assured that I'll help handle this delicate matter with a cool, firm head and get Ater's side of the story. Why she turned her coat is beyond me, but we will find out together and see if we can maybe convince her to rethink her actions before—"

"Before what, Lady Etihw?!" Grora continued to shout at them as she followed the Goddess up. "Before it's too late to stop that bitch from unleashing divine retribution unto us all?! Before I can even slaughter her for betraying us?! She deserves to die for trying to kill us by aiding another deity who wants to invade the Gray Garden and attack us! I swear I'm going to throttle that shit!"

"Calm down, Grora! We don't even know why she betrayed us!" Etihw tried to reason with her, though deep down she realized it was going to be no use and decided to call the security office for word on Ater's current whereabouts. "This is Etihw speaking. Where has Ater gone to now?"

"Fourth floor corridor! She's by the stairwell!" came the response which set Grora off.

"Perfect, I'm going to pulverize that little shit!" she screamed in rage and bolted up the rest of the stairs until she arrived at the fourth floor. Kicking the door open and disregarding whether anyone was on the other side, she whipped her head around in both directions in search of her prey whom she found had halted in her tracks. Having whirled around to find the angelic lady standing there, Ater yelped in fear and fled to a nearby office when Grora caught sight of her. "Ater, you've done it this time, you treasonous pile of shit!" she yelled and gave chase, sprinting to the office the cat demon withdrew to and found her in the center of the room. "It's about time I slaughtered you!"

Breathing heavily, Ater's whole body quivered violently and she swallowed heavily when her eyes suddenly whipped towards Etihw and Arbus when the two of them rushed into the office. "L-Lady Etihw! A-Arbus!" she squeaked timidly, trembling uncontrollably and staring at the three of them through eyes widened by fear. The poor girl was completely ashen, terrified of what she'd done. "I-I…" she attempted to speak up, but her voice died in her throat because she was so scared.

"J-just calm down, Ater," Etihw tried to soothe the poor girl's frayed nerves and took some soft steps towards her. Her arms were outstretched, and she stared unblinkingly at the kitty because she wanted the cat demon to come forward into her warm embrace. "Everything's going to be okay for you. We're just going to talk things over and try to find a solution to what's happening. I swear Arbus and I shall not harm you, so just settle down and we'll discuss this nice and calmly, okay?"

Ater gulped heavily. "I-I…"

"You think talking things over with this sack of shit will help?!" Grora demanded, angered by the fact they weren't resorting to the force she wanted to use against Ater to kill the cat demon. "As if that will solve anything! Get me a weapon and I'll beat the shit out of her this instant!" Her tone of voice and the threat she openly spat out at the kitty only served to frighten Ater more, and the poor kitty nearly tripped over a chair in her haste to back away from the enraged angelic lady.

"Silence, Grora!" Etihw shouted at her subordinate before turning back to Ater. "You don't need to listen to her, Ater," she tried to approach the white haired cat demon. "Just come here, I'll make sure everything's alright as we talk things over and determine how to handle this peacefully."

Despite the fact her breath was getting caught in her throat, Ater struggled to speak. While she was incredibly grateful to the Goddess and her sister for being here, she couldn't turn back and abandon the decision she was forced to make under intense pressure. "N-no, I-I…" she paused and hesitated to continue on until she found the strength to keep talking briefly. "I-I'm s-s-sorry…"

"I-it's o-okay, Ater," Arbus spoke up to try and convince her twin sister that she'd be fine. However, that was the precise moment when the white haired cat demon opened up a scroll which produced a bright light that conjured up another portal behind her. Arbus' eyes widened. "Ater!"

"I-I'm s-s-sorry!" Ater cried and abruptly turned to flee through the portal she opened.

…

 **Now that Ater's betrayed her friends and their world, it's time to begin the next part of this suspenseful affair. She is already underway with her end of the deal, and must combat the one she fears to lose to her on purpose: Grora. This will serve as quite a pivotal problem in this story because we're now seeing Ater and Arbus starting to drift further apart as they are divided over the issue of their missing parents which has plagued them in different ways.**

 **Also, Leopold is another character I've made who will appear in two or three fanfics I want to write for these games, so consider the mention of him as a teaser of sorts for him.**


	12. Chapter Twelve: In Pursuit of Ater

He stood his ground against the recruit's blade during a brief training session to aid her and the other trainees who were going to be taking part in their first combat exercise. This invasion of the Gray Garden was going to be the final test they had to pass prior to graduating from the military academy established in the Sun Heaven's citadel to train paladins and clerics for their roles in the army. The particular batch he received were achievers who surpassed great expectations of them and were allowed to join the reconnaissance strike force under Bern's tutelage. As a paladin who taught a few courses himself, the lieutenant recognized some of these former academy students and now considered the group to be his squires and pupils. All of them were great apprentices, and they'd shine when the invasion began to pour through into this region and overwhelm this world whole. They were pure stars, suns who would rise and one day prove themselves as noble soldiers.

Pleased with how this particular girl's skill was improving, he raised his hand to signal the end of the training session and addressed her and the fellow peers she'd be fighting alongside with the professional soldiers. "Alright," he raised his voice to speak up clearly while everybody present listened to his instructions. "The appointed time for the assault is soon approaching. This night the entire army itself shall pour through the portals still open and continue to open more as they begin to circulate in this region to obliterate the Gray Garden's main stronghold. Once Blancblack Castle falls, we shall hold full dominion over this world and use it in the upcoming war against Fumus. I suggest you take a few hours break to rest up and steel yourselves for our role alongside the seventh division which will be arriving at this very location. Once they show up tonight, we will join them."

Everybody cheered and gave their praise for Siralos and the sun they worshipped devoutly, thankful for its success in leading them this far. Although their heaven may have had its problems in the past such as the Fall of Ivlis and the destruction a fourth of the Sun Heaven suffered because of that one demonic guild's little war against them, they placed their faith in their light. This attack on their enemies would not only provide the acquisition of more territory to replace what they lost to the guild and then some, but it would be a stepping stone on the path to greatness. Once they've proven themselves victorious, they would colonize this world and enslave the population, thereby developing a second front against the heaven governed by Fumus to eliminate him because of any okay relations he had with Satanick. To them, anybody who didn't want to fight demons and Devils for whatever reason was justification for smiting them with the almighty power of the sun heaven. While Siralos did make a deal with that demon, it was for the purpose of defeating this pathetically putrid world; besides, he certainly had more control over just the one cat demon than a whole pack.

Striding back to the tent so he could have a discussion with the two tacticians Siralos gave them to aid in establishing locations for the initial portals, Bern approached the flap door and took it in one hand. Pressing it forward as he stepped in, the lieutenant paladin found himself within the conversation between said tacticians and one of their scouts. "I trust the Gray Garden's squads out in the open have not made their move to enter this territory. Am I right in presuming that?" he had asked since he wondered which of these scouts it was and where he—Bern distinguished a male's voice—was posted down here in the cavern. "Our position hasn't been jeopardized yet, has it?"

"No, sir, not at all," the scout turned to salute him and gave a statement. "I've just happened upon something along my patrol in the southern portion of this cave and thought you should come take a look at it. I have never come across anything like what I've found before, and it's unnatural."

"Name and rank, soldier."

"Private Lenny, reporting for duty, sir. Shall I lead you to my discovery?"

"In due time," Bern replied and instinctively gripped the hilt of his blade. "First describe it for us. What did whatever it was look like? Have you heard anything out of the ordinary or odd?"

"The sounds I've heard are what led me to it," Lenny began to explain in his report to Bern. "At first I acknowledged them as undead and investigated posthaste, but then I heard slithering of some sort before what sounded like a hole opened up in one of the walls. Bear in mind this was on one of the lower levels, the deepest portion in fact. I could still make out the sounds of undead, but I also could distinguish a conversation between two individuals whose voices sounded soft from a distant plateau I hid on to determine the nature of this development. Unfortunately, I couldn't make out what they were saying due to this and decided to return and inform you of this at once, sir."

Bern scowled, feeling as if the allusion to two unknown figures with the undead meant the scout had come across the lich demon Ater spoke of last night. Perhaps the cat demon was present with her, having somehow found another way past them to converse with said lich demon. Despite being an unlikely possibility considering how they've explored every inch of this cavern once they set up camp in this area, the fact Lenny also mentioned an opening of some kind must've been the route Ater took to meet her. Then again, what if it was an entirely different individual with the lich demon? Surely there might've been more than one of them present down here, but how did all the undead with them find this place to begin with? This cavern was initially meant to be a secret camp until it had been unfortunately discovered recently by the Gray Garden. Perhaps Ater was a spy.

"What is your decision, Lieutenant Bern?" one of the tacticians inquired.

"We've forty men in our group; half of us shall go investigate and clear out the undead. As for the cat demon Lord Siralos made an arrangement with, she is to be detained upon arriving as I have informed both her and the troops. This possible betrayal will be a reason for that detainment. How she somehow managed to relinquish that spell I cast over her is beyond me," the lieutenant paladin explained as he gave the order. "Nevertheless, she shall still be executed for being a demon, even if the manner of her death shall be decided by her. Back to the undead, I shall take nineteen soldiers with me—including three of the six recruits—to clear the cave of them before anything unseemly happens to hinder this invasion in any way, even by the smallest of margins for failure."

"I will be among them as well, correct?" Lenny asked since he had to lead them there.

"Yes indeed, Private Lenny," Bern acknowledged the fact. "Show us where they are." The four of them all stepped out of the tent to address this matter, so the lieutenant turned back to speak with each of them. "You gather five soldiers," he said to one, "and you and Lenny take four each," he stated to the other one and the private, "Bring them to the south tunnel. The three of you will each select one recruit you believe is capable to join us on this objective to defend our camp. We will return once the enemy has been cleared out, regardless of the deal they made with the demonic agent on our side. I require one tactician here, and the other will come with us." With that said, he dismissed them to their duty and prepared for the assault on undead that seemed to have started an invasion of their own. It didn't matter if they were the original inhabitants as they would all suffer.

...

"I-I'm s-s-sorry!" Ater cried and abruptly turned to flee through the portal she opened. She left the three of them standing there with Etihw and Arbus reaching out for her to stop while Grora was the only one who actually tried to pursue the white haired cat demon by running after her. She was about to sprint through the portal as well, but the Goddess caught her by the collar to keep her from getting away. Even Arbus tried to follow her twin sister through it, but Etihw held her back.

"Whoa, hold it, you two!" she raised her voice to try and address Grora and Arbus prior to their attempted departure. "We don't know what's on the other side of that portal! You both could run straight into a trap without being aware of it! I cannot allow you to follow her lest you end up wherever she is or isn't! For all we know, you could be walking right into an enemy ambush!"

"Then what the hell would you have us do?!" Grora demanded curtly. "Let her go for now!"

"Yeah, Ater's my sister!" Arbus joined in even if it wasn't for the same reason as the angel. "I've got to go after her! She doesn't know what she's getting herself into! I have to help her!"

"I'm well aware of that, but you must allow me to determine where this portal goes first so I analyze if it'll be safe or not," Etihw stated calmly and strode over to the portal. Closing her eyes, she raised a hand in front of it to feel the magical energy pulsating within the confines of the portal. Its construction was definitely full of sun energy, proving it was a tool produced by Siralos himself since she could feel his power coursing through it. Yet she could also feel the portal was meant to be connected to two different locations; the Sun Heaven, and the other was somewhere within the Gray Garden. "We must be careful with keeping this portal open," she spoke up after a few minutes of silence, during which Grora paced the room in rage as Arbus fretted over what her sister did. "It leads to the Sun Heaven where Siralos must've gathered his main army, though I can sense it's closed for now. The other route goes to wherever Ater went just now, though luckily it's close by as I feel it in this region. It must be their base in that cave the hunters led some of our squads to."

"Then let's go in there and get after the little bitch!" Grora demanded as Arbus nodded, but could not agree with the angel's logic against Ater. "The camp must not be that big if it's only one minor force! The three of us can go in there and slaughter the whole lot of them and beat her dead!"

"You are not to kill anyone there unless it's to defend the lives of one another and Ater too. I shall not allow it because murder is a dark path; you cannot slay those angels because of whatever motive you've got against them," Etihw instructed her calmly, applying her own magic to prohibit the opening in the Sun Heaven from becoming accessible even to Siralos by closing that route off. "We must not hold grudges against them, or Ater regardless of what they've done. If you must kill them, ensure it's only in the defense of yourselves and Ater, otherwise you may spark violence."

"For the umpteenth time, I get it, Lady Etihw!" the angelic woman retorted bitterly. "There is just one problem with your lecture: those guys really are seeking to kill us! You don't want their blood to be spilled because of some petty grudge, fine! Just let us kill them to lower their numbers!"

Etihw sighed, disliking how Grora's first option was to kill them regardless of the motive. Still, she had to agree with her that the Sun Angels probably wouldn't spare the lives of them along with this world's population. "Fine, very well, but do make the effort to spare those who surrender. We need more information as you've made clear in your war council, so try to leave some alive."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure some of them live to suffer the punishment of having to betray their heaven just as we'll punish Ater for doing the same to us," Grora commented coldly, and yet Arbus seemed to agree with that notion because she surprisingly spoke up in favor of it to an extent.

"Y-yes, b-but we shouldn't hurt or kill her! We must find out why she turned against us!"

"Indeed, I couldn't agree more, Arbus," the Goddess nodded at her and raised her free hand to cast a summoning spell equipping them with armor and weapons. Grora had her Mithril armor with the scimitars and her bow coupled with arrows whereas Ater was decked in the same kind of armor with her white trident. "There, you're ready to enter the portal and follow Ater; bring her back alive so we can determine why she'd do something like this and understand it better from her perspective. I'll make sure the squads go ahead through the cave's entrance when they arrive there to cover that front in case any angels from the enemy unit attempt to flee through there. I will stay here to keep Siralos from opening the entrance to his heaven to prevent him from intervening. Unfortunately, my magic has made the passage slow down by quite a bit, so you'll both arrive a while after Ater has." Handing Grora the walkie talkie, she let the angel take it and clip the thing to her belt. "Take it, Wodahs shall stay in contact with the two of you as you head through the portal and end up where our enemies are." Saying so, she let the two girls approach the portal.

"Sure, thanks," the angel remarked and made way to step through first since she wanted to go after Ater and kill the white haired cat demon, but Etihw held her back again. "What now?"

"Nothing much aside from me wanting you and Arbus to enter side by side so both of you aren't separated," the Goddess remarked and placed her free hand on Grora's shoulder and moved it over to Arbus' when the black haired kitty stepped forward as well. "And good luck to you both."

"Thank you, Lady Etihw," Arbus murmured and hugged the Goddess as Etihw returned it.

"Yeah, thanks," Grora said.

"You're both welcome, now go. Hurry before the Sun God tries to force his way in."

Grora and Arbus both nodded as the former spoke up. "Sure, whatever." With that said the two of them mentally prepared themselves for whatever was ahead and rushed straight ahead into the portal while Etihw kept it open for them. It took a few minutes before they disappeared, though Wodahs and Kcalb both hurried in after having arrived to see the opened portal when they did.

"Looks like we made it just in time," the Devil remarked and sauntered forward to examine it. "We heard two had been opened in the castle outside after we finished addressing the guards to assign them in several strategically defensible positions. The squads out on patrol returned as well, reporting that all portals in the region have suddenly vanished and dispersed completely. I suppose it's a result of your magic, Eti, so let's close this one up and seal it off too like the other ones too."

"That's good to hear, but not yet," the Goddess replied, not taking her eyes off the portal's presence as she held her right hand out in front of it. "Grora and Arbus just went through to follow Ater and bring her back. She's the one who opened the two portals within the castle and ran away into this one. There's also an entrance to Siralos' heaven which I'm keeping closed so he does not interfere with the mission at hand. Hopefully he doesn't try to begin the invasion anytime soon."

"Wait, Ater did what?" Wodahs asked, his eye widening somewhat since he couldn't seem to really comprehend that bit yet. Even his older brother appeared to be visibly shocked to a certain extent, yet the Devil maintained his cool demeanor. "She opened these two portals? How did—"

"With the aid of a scroll Siralos or one of his henchmen provided her," Etihw explained to answer the inquiry, sighing because she didn't like to believe it either. "I know it's difficult to truly believe, for even I'm having a hard time coming to grips with the truth I'm forced to grasp. While this is a severe crime Ater's committed, I must know her motive for aiding the Sun God to discern how her punishment can be mitigated. That's why I sent those two after her, and I need you to stay in contact with them from the security office, Wodahs. Head down there and keep a watch out for more portals if any more form in the castle; there's another radio there to stay in contact with Grora and Arbus. Also, send the four squads traveling to the cave there now to back them up from their front." She turned her head to somberly look at him. "Please, Wodahs, go at once for their sake."

She didn't need to elaborate on her request any further since he nodded. "Understood."

Watching his younger brother head off to perform the tasks the Goddess instructed Wodahs to carry out, Kcalb then turned to Etihw and stepped forward to apply his own magic to the portal. "You don't understand her motive?" he asked simply, helping her keep it open while blocking the Sun God's access to their world. "No offense intended, Eti, but you've known Ater all her life."

"I have, yes, though I still don't understand why exactly she'd do such a thing…Unless…"

"Yes, Eti, that is exactly her motive," Kcalb confirmed her suspicion, having already been aware of it. "Only the search for her parents would drive her this far. She's been agonizing over it forever, ever since we first took them in after I found them as kittens." He sighed as well, not angry with Ater because of what she did, but sorry that he couldn't find them in time for her to prevent this. He was upset with himself in spite of his attempts since there wasn't much he could've done with nothing which was why this couldn't be prevented. "This may have been avoidable via some other means, but I think something like this would've happened anyway. The only problems were the timing and the lack of evidence we looked for on behalf of her and Arbus. We never found anything pertaining to it as of yet, though I got emails earlier from two of our foreign associates."

"Of what?" Etihw asked, wondering what he meant. "Did they have any information?"

"Reficul and Fumus sent replies back to my laptop. Apparently Ater asked them about one name with two different variations concerning the second letter: Screvera; one's a 'c', one's a 'k'."

"You think it's connected to her in some way?" the Goddess inquired, wondering if Ater's odd request for the name was part of a search she herself was doing. Perhaps that was why she had turned to Siralos because she felt he might've known something, therefore placing a hold over her. "Could it be a possible clue to their parentage? Like a surname, a place associated with them?" An educated guess, really, though it was the only one she could make based on Kcalb's deductions.

"Maybe, and it may be something Siralos knows. It doesn't matter if he approached her, or if it was the other way around," Kcalb went on with his theorizing, though concluded it right away with another remark. "Either way, I understand her motive clearly and forgive her for it. When she gets back, let's let her rest for however long she needs to before questioning her about this matter."

"Indeed, and yes, it was my magic that closed off all the other portals for good," Etihw said since she fully agreed with his decision because she also cared about Ater. "That does not mean I could've kept more from opening since my magic is concentrated on keeping this one open while preventing Siralos from opening the entrance to his heaven that's also within this portal. I suspect another one was in the other portal that was sealed, and both of these might be connected together."

"They are as I can sense the connection," the Devil remarked and focused his magic on the aspects pertaining to that trait of the portal. "I'm keeping that entrance closed, plus I'm also going to help prevent additional portals from appearing through these two. They may also be conduits."

"Good, that way we'll be able to stop Siralos' invasion, at least for now," Etihw murmured. "I just hope it's enough, and I also hope Grora and Arbus can find Ater to bring her back to us."

Kcalb nodded. "So do I; I just hope Grora doesn't blow a fuse and try to kill her instead."

"That too," Etihw added. "Once we sense they're through, let's close this portal for good."

…

The two of them flew through the spiraling path towards their destination, an unlikely duo forced to team up in search of the same individual: Ater. Although their ideologies regarding Ater differed, Arbus and Grora were sure to find her within the cave at some point. Like Etihw claimed once they left, the route was slow due to the Goddess' magic producing that negative effect, so the two girls were definitely going to arrive sometime after the white haired cat demon made it on her own. In that timeframe, Ater could've been captured, killed—the angel's favorite option and what she'd do to Ater once she found her—or perhaps have willingly joined forces with Siralos' angels. That in of itself was justification for her death in Grora's mind, and she willingly planned to go so far as to disregard the order to bring Ater back alive in order to slay the traitorous cat demon. She'd thought about disobeying it at first, and ultimately decided to place herself and her position at risk to accomplish her goal instead of letting their quarry live to explain herself. Her actions determined her fate, hence why Grora felt the incessant desire to kill her now that she had proper justification.

Arbus on the other hand was all for her sister's punishment, albeit much less severe than a decision to outright slaughter her twin. Like Grora, she knew what Ater did was wrong and should have been a charge against her when she was put on trial. However, she wanted it to be a fair trial because she wanted to hear why Ater turned her coat against them. In spite of that, Arbus believed she already had a good suspicion of what her twin sister's reasoning would be: their parents. While that was understandable given how Ater harped on the matter a lot—Arbus was perfectly aware of those comments in Ater's diary pertaining to them—it still wasn't a valid motive for betrayal since the notion was more of an excuse in her eyes. To her, Ater was beating herself up over this matter because of their absence, so that was why the black haired cat demon felt she needed to face justice and strict discipline in order to get over this. She truly cared about her twin sister, but realized that sometimes discipline was needed in order to help those who were precious and cherished. Though the punishment may have been severe, she'd ensure her sister wasn't exiled or killed for betrayal.

"Stupid Ater…how dare that bitch betray our world…" Grora muttered under her breath.

"You'd better not kill her, Miss Grora," Arbus spoke up to remind her of Etihw's orders.

"Just shut up, Arbus, I'll do what I want," the angelic lady retorted without looking at her. Her choice of words was poor even if she didn't bother to consider taking them back, but the reply only worried Arbus by making the cat demon at her side mad. "I don't care about your warnings."

"Hey, look!" Arbus raised her voice slightly and got right in front of Grora as they passed the entrance to Siralos' heaven. Luckily it didn't open, and the passage began to appear as if it was taking longer to traverse. They could feel the Devil's magic now too, so Arbus and Grora figured he might've shown up to offer his aid too. The walkie talkie bounced along the angel's belt as the cat demon put her hands upon the angel's shoulders. "I don't like what Ater's done either, but at least I'm maintaining a firm grip on my own head to consider how she'll be charged for this issue!"

"And just what the hell is that supposed to mean, eh?!" Grora retorted back, shoving Arbus away from her before jutting a rude finger at her. "Face it, your sister's a treasonous bitch who I'm going to kill because she put our whole world at risk all for the sake of her own agenda! She is the one who stabbed us in the back, the little cretin! That's proper justification for death right there!"

"Lady Etihw instructed us to bring her back alive!"

"And I'm personally going to deliver her corpse in a body bag!" the angel shouted at Arbus and shoved her aside to keep flying ahead while the cat demon trailed behind her and caught up to stay beside her. "I don't give a damn about what Lady Etihw said anymore; Ater dies, that's it!"

"So you're just going to slaughter her without giving Ater a fair chance to explain herself?! You'll just shove one of those blades down her throat with the other through her chest after you've made her into a pincushion?!" her unlikely compatriot demanded, to which Grora silently nodded to answer both questions at once without even speaking up to respond. Her reply disturbed the cat demon because it clearly indicated the angel was of a one-track mind that didn't stop to think about the consequences of her actions. She just picked whichever option she wanted and went with it as she placed that choice above her other priorities which Arbus was quick to remind her of. "What'll you think will happen if you were to just drive ahead with the urge to kill my sister?! Lady Etihw's going to be furious, and so will Lord Kcalb once they find out you've disobeyed orders and decided to do your own thing instead of listening to their instructions! You'll also make an enemy of me!"

"Big deal, I can live with all of that."

"You can also get exiled! Is that what you want?!"

"Fine with that too, so long as I get the opportunity to enter Siralos' damn heaven and slay Hastur for all the trouble he's caused us in the past and presently right now with this invasion."

"Then why don't you just break through the entrance and do that instead?!" Arbus shouted in the form of a challenge meant to either calm Grora down or get rid of her. Despite being aware of the fact it was a stupid mistake on her part, she didn't bother to take it back because she did say it as a valid point in the heat of their argument. "You want this guy dead so badly, go off and slay him instead of Ater! Leave my sister alone so she can have a fair trial when facing her judgment!"

"Can't do that when the entrance has been sealed shut preventing me from even taking that chance. Doesn't matter too much since I can wait for exile to go find him, or he comes to me first."

Arbus sighed and facepalmed, evidently exhausted already from the one track mindset this lady utilized in getting her flawed logic across to others. While she did bet the angel was perfectly aware of it already, the kitty merely deadpanned at having responded to it. Obviously she wouldn't get anywhere with Grora and wished this mission would've been made easier if someone else took the angel's place so she didn't have to listen or try to argue with her. She'd even go alone in search of Ater if need be, though Arbus was smart enough to realize that she'd require backup. It was not a pleasant situation to be in and her partner for the task was not the best individual she could even be paired with for it, but Grora was here to stay and they both had to work together to find Ater.

"Not going to try and formulate a reply to that?" Grora asked sarcastically. "Not that I care because it doesn't matter even if I have already proven you wrong. You won't change my mind."

"So, you're literally going to risk everything all for the sake of killing my sister?" the kitty asked calmly, at least grateful the angel's anger appeared to have subsided for the most part. "You know you'll be punished severely, yet you still choose to go that far solely to slaughter my sister?"

"Yep," the angel answered affirmatively in a blunt tone without trying to hide an attitude.

The cat demon sighed again and shut her eyes temporarily before reopening them. "I can't honestly tell if you're being obliviously stupid on purpose or are just unaware you're braindead. It might be an insult to you—go ahead and feel free to interpret it that way—but do you even realize what you're saying, Miss Grora?" she inquired, wondering if she even cared about that. She knew Grora hated insults about her and preferred blunt truths when necessary, also having a preference for the truths to be said directly to her face. "You're making yourself out as bad with the attitude."

"Oh, please, if I'm that bad why don't you just leave and let me do my work in peace? I've got enough concerns on my mind without you throwing fuel on the fire like Ater did," came a cold retort from Grora since she truly didn't seem to care as Arbus expected. "Besides, I am not stupid. If I was, I'd probably not be concerned with this invasion on our hands, now, would I, Arbus?"

"Fair enough," Arbus reluctantly conceded the point, but immediately put forth something as a counterargument to Grora's claim, "though you still treat Ater and I—mostly my sister—like shit. Don't try to argue with me on this, Miss Grora, but everyone's already aware of the fact Ater accidently gouged your eye out. Hear me out on this when I put emphasis on the word: _accident_."

Grora snorted disdainfully. "Your point being?"

"Meaning that you are so enraged over something that happened decades ago and refuse to let it go even after we've apologized for it so many times," Arbus retorted, taking the offensive in their argument over said accident. "You claim Ater's to blame, and yes, I do agree that she is quite responsible for what happened back then as she has acknowledged what she did as wrong. Though she has already repented for it and did a lot of stuff to earn forgiveness—and I know that's quite a fact because I helped share her burden—you should really look in a mirror, Miss Grora. You make the case that Ater is a monster, yet we and everyone else who knows you can make the same point about you whenever Ater's involved in whatever way with you constantly attacking both of us."

"So what? That's not going to change anything, Arbus." Grora retorted. "Ater will die."

Arbus felt as if she was going to pull her hair out and scream, exasperatingly frustrated that talking sense into this lady was getting nowhere as always regardless of how many times the same old points were made. Everybody tried getting this argument across to her, yet Grora demonstrated a lack of concern for this debate as evident in her flawed mindset which spewed illogical concepts from her brain. Doing her best to focus on what would make her see and understand reason within a rational framework of thinking, Arbus stayed silent for a few moments until an idea came to her. "That what about Hastur, huh? Do you hate him as much as my sister, or does she take priority?"

"Hell, I want them both to share the number one spot on my priorities because I clearly do want to slaughter them both," Grora admitted nonchalantly, inwardly getting annoyed with Arbus because the black haired cat demon just had to mention him. "But no, I don't hate him as much as I do Ater; I despise him more, hence why his death is at the top of my bucket list now that he made a decision to show his ugly mug around me." She growled. "I'll put him in the grave myself."

"Wow," the kitty sarcastically remarked as if this sudden comment from the angel surprised her. "Someone you actually hate more than my twin sister. That's truly amazing, Miss Grora."

"Don't get your hopes up, girl, I'm still going to kill that little shit of a sister you have." It was this remark that made Arbus fly in front of her again, this time placing her hands on her hips.

"Yes, yes, we know, we know. Everybody's aware of it now," she stated and held her hand in front of Grora to stop her as she remained afloat in midair herself by flapping her wings. "It can be considered a known fact at this point that you hate your old leader and my sister. While I know why you hate Ater so bad even if it's misguided and absolutely wrong from your end, I can assume the only reason why you hate Hastur is because of what he used you and the rest of your old order for. Am I correct, or do I have to spell it out any further to get this through your thick skull?"

"You want me to admit I hate Ater solely because of that 'accident'?" Grora asked, placing cynical emphasis on that last word in a pompous manner. "Fine, I'll admit that much to you, yet it also makes you look stupid for believing Hastur's betrayal is the only factor in my hatred of him."

"Then enlighten me," Arbus challenged her to elaborate on something not many people in their world knew about. "Elaborate on the exact reasons why you despise this guy more than Ater."

Although Grora didn't feel like talking about it now, she felt there wasn't much choice due to the debate they got into when they should've been looking for the white haired cat demon. While Arbus did acknowledge this since she started flying forward again as did the angel, Grora believed she probably didn't really deserve to know that much because the cat demons weren't in her social circle. The only individuals who were aware of it were her closest friends, Etihw, Kcalb, alongside Wodahs. Those friends consisted of Othros, Rorin, and Mitchell. That made six individuals who've been aware of her other reasons for hating Hastur—seven if the man himself was counted as well. Sighing in exhaustion since she really didn't feel like discussing this now, Grora just bucked up to get it done and over with. It wasn't that she cared about talking about it when she was all for it due to wanting it off her chest, but she really did believe now wasn't the time. Still, the journey through this portal was probably going to take a little longer, so it was best to indulge Arbus now. "Alright, you want to hear about my other reasons for hating Hastur?" she asked as the cat demon nodded.

"Fire away," Arbus spoke briefly, encouraging the angel to proceed with her account.

Grora sighed, preparing herself for what she was about to relay to the cat demon by thinking about how she'd word her phrases. Eventually deciding to come clean in a plain fashion, the angel took a deep breath and began with a brief allusion to the field trip. "Most of what I said at that field trip to the castle's museum still holds, though there is more to the account from that day. The other day I looked through his personal records to determine why he came to believe so highly of himself from a narcissistic perspective and learned Hastur excelled at pretty much everything. It gave him quite the ego even though he hardly boasted of his personal achievements; he considered that to be disgraceful since his presence alone was enough to warrant awe in him, at least according to his deluded mind. He was cruel implied, an aspect of his personality contributing to his enforcement of brutal torture against people in the past. It was harsh for his victims, and believe me, even I felt sorry for them because of what we put those poor people through. I wasn't alone as other members, not all of them, felt the same way." She paused in her testimony, allowing Arbus to take what she said so far in for now while putting forth a question concerning how the angel had felt back then.

"So the guilt eventually got to you?" the other girl inquired before Grora continued talking.

"Pretty much, though I still followed him for a number of reasons. One of the primary ones was my belief in him being able to revive the traditions of fellow angels, namely the conflict we've been in with demons during the war. Hastur sought to reintroduce that since he claimed this world was tainted by Fallen Angels and demons seeking power, all of whom were led by Sir Devil. They wanted to usurp Lady Etihw and seize power for themselves after killing her according to him. It's been a dark lie he spread to us, but we believed in him and what he said because we truly felt they were threatening our society. That was why we had to take action on behalf of those who could've still been saved and those like Robin who gave their lives for the angels during the terrible war."

"Robin was your friend and respected superior, right? You wanted vengeance for her too?"

"I suppose you could say that was another reason, but it wasn't confined to just being about Robin. I wanted revenge against all demons because they hurt and killed so many of my comrades and ruined the lives of their families and friends by slaughtering them." Grora shut her eye, pausing again so she could breathe deeply once more before progressing any further when Arbus piped up.

"Man, you've really had a lot of weight on your shoulders back then, Miss Grora," she said in understanding, comprehending how difficult life must've been for the angel back then. "So what was the breaking point? When did you finally build up the strength to betray your old order?"

"The torture was one thing, though one mission in particular served to help open my eyes, so to speak. Our scouts once delivered an intelligence report to us about two otherworldly demons who entered the Gray Garden. I was assigned to assassinate them while Hastur led several members as backup in case I needed aid. The only reason he attended this assignment was because he made the claim these demons were emissaries from some underworld who sought an audience with this world's Devil since another Devil wanted to throw in his or her full support to usurp the Goddess. I killed the two demons as commanded and searched their bodies for anything to prove that notion Hastur forwarded, but I discovered something completely different to what I expected to uncover."

"Which was?" Arbus goaded Grora to continue further with her account of that mission.

"They were unarmed and clad only in plain clothes, and most of what they had didn't fit a single bit of the idea they were emissaries. The thing that caught my attention was a journal on one of them detailing a bunch of hardships they experienced along with blessings too. Yet one of those entries in particular surprised me, and I was shocked to have actually heard the whimpering of two infants in a basket covered by a cloth. I lifted the cloth up and discovered those infants which was when I realized that what I did was wrong." Grora stopped again and turned to look at Arbus with a bland, yet somber expression on her face as seen in the frown. "I just killed their parents, Arbus," she declared, watching as the cat demon's eyes bulged out of their sockets upon hearing her bring up this horrifying revelation. "The demons I killed were not the emissaries Hastur claimed they've been, but were actually peaceful demons seeking refuge in our world so they could live here since they fled their own world. The Gray Garden would've been their home, but instead it became their grave." She turned her face back to their route. "A family plot was formed that night when Hastur confronted me and ordered me to erase all emotions I felt for the demons while throwing the basket with the infants in it off the cliff into a river. I never knew what became of them, but they're likely dead since they couldn't have survived the fall or the frigid temperature of the water that night."

"My god…" Arbus murmured, somewhat afraid of wanting to hear more from Grora.

"That mission bothered me for a week by upsetting me greatly. Guilt overflowed my whole body, and I felt as if what we were doing in True Light was truly helping our people. I had doubts about myself and the kind of person I've become, but I never voiced these to anybody because the organization's role was more important. At least I thought it still was since I struggled with duties I had to perform along with the individual I was turning into. At the next daily meeting which I've arrived early to, I felt the need to try and ease the fears and concerns by reading mission statements we followed when Hastur created them. I tried so hard to overcome my guilt that way, but that was when I discovered a book I hadn't come across and read it for comfort. It didn't provide an ounce of comfort for that matter because the more I read, the more I learned that True Light wasn't meant to be a traditionalist organization. Hastur had written that we were all scapegoats he used to prove a point that everybody was evil and incompetent except for him, thereby asserting the notion that he was the only individual who could usher in peace his own way. We were his guinea pigs."

Arbus didn't say anything this time, silently allowing Grora to continue further onwards.

"Nobody else was present at the moment, and Hastur was the second individual who came. It was just the two of us when I confronted him in that church about his real objectives. He did not even try to hide it at all; in fact, he openly admitted it without bothering to even snatch the evidence away from me because didn't care if I turned him and the others in or not. He actually claimed I'd still be following his plans even if I did. That confrontation opened my eyes to what he was truly like, so I debated whether or not to have gone forward with the information which he actually let me keep since he didn't care—to him, the idea only demonstrated I was tainted by coming up with a lie or a truth that would get me in trouble. Everybody would've hated me, but I made the right decision to reveal the truth. Although I did get in a lot of trouble, I was forgiven by confessing and moved elsewhere until things cooled off in the region around Gray Village and Blancblack Castle."

"S-so…" Arbus hesitated to inquire into the matter any further. "T-that was it?"

Grora nodded. "That was it for True Light; the organization fell. I did too, but it was so I'd be able to rise again by seeking redemption. Yet that wasn't all because Hastur fled once he'd been defeated by Sir Devil and Head Angel. We never pursued him and contacted other deities with the request that they wouldn't aid him—kind of ironic how Siralos is using Hastur to aid his invasion, for the context of that scenario is basically the opposite of our request. However, there was another reason why I betrayed True Light just as Hastur betrayed what our organization was fighting for."

"Which was?" the black haired cat demon asked as Grora looked at her once again.

"I loved him."

Arbus blinked. "You…loved him?"

"I did," the angel responded somberly, turning away again. "He never returned my feelings towards him, but did acknowledge them in our confrontation. He said he was aware of my feelings all along, yet openly insulted them and I by saying my love for him was impure and tainted. It was the first time I ever experienced somebody breaking my heart, and it was bitter, shatteringly cruel. That I was nothing more than a sick tool he sought to use and break on purpose was too much, the weight of that burden wearing me down under its crushing pressure. It was too much for me to get over and handle at the time, but slowly I've managed to recover from the pain he caused me when he confessed his real thoughts about me and how I felt. I've hated him ever since; I want to murder that asshole because of everything he put me through and everything he said to me. Hastur lied to everybody, making the argument that we were impure and incompetent whereas he never was. It's been tough trying to get over it, but I'm better now despite still wanting to kill him for his crimes."

"Whoa…" The black haired kitty blinked again, surprised by how close Grora was to him. She really seemed to have been completely entrenched in True Light's affairs for a while, seeking atonement for the crimes she committed in that order as a way of finding redemption for herself to come to terms with what she did. Although Arbus had initially been surprised when the angel first mentioned she was the second-in-command of her organization, she was pretty shocked now since her comrade had related more to her than what Grora originally covered in her lecture a while ago. In spite of the fact she couldn't overlook the fact the angelic lady still wanted to kill Ater, the black haired cat demon began to slowly understand how Grora felt concerning Hastur's betrayal. "Must have been rough for you dealing with issues on a traumatic scale like that," she stated comfortingly.

"More than you can imagine, Arbus; you weren't there to experience it yourself," came the reply from Grora, sounding tired from having brought up her past on a crucial mission like this as both aspects weren't related in the slightest. "Hell, you mustn't have even been born then." Sighing again, the angel merely shrugged her shoulders and decided to drop the subject. "Oh well, it is the truth I cannot deny. As unfathomably believable it may be, what happened then is in the past now. I don't want to think about it any longer since I'd like to focus on how to slaughter Ater, so I would appreciate it if you don't bring this up again and concentrate on getting this mission done, alright?"

Arbus sighed as well. "Very well, but know this, Miss Grora: although I do understand the way you feel, I cannot allow you to harm my sister without hearing her out first to understand her."

"I've already got a good idea as to what her motive could be:" the angel remarked without averting her attention to the kitty while putting forth her theory, "your parents." Her awareness of the issue which Arbus had suspected to have been the case caught the cat demon off guard as Grora made her gasp. She hadn't known the angel figured it out, though Grora explained the deductions she made to further elaborate on it. "Don't look so surprised, I was in the office during your little dispute with Ater about your parents. Yet I've been aware the issue was a sensitive one between the two of you since I've read your diaries thinking the two of you were preparing bad pranks or something against me. You might think I do not understand that, but I've vowed not to use this material against you and Ater because of how tender it is. Although that might've been your sister's motivation for turning her coat, it is still no excuse for her actions against our world, Arbus. Tough, I know, but she must be punished for her treachery regardless of however innocent her intentions were, hence why Ater must die. You don't like it, then don't even watch me cut your sister down."

It was that statement which made Arbus fly in front of Grora a third time. "You know, Miss Grora, I can understand you and how you feel about Hastur. I'm sorry you were put through all of that in the past, but can you at least hear me out? Yes, I feel Ater should be punished for what she has done; I'm in full agreement with you on that. However, would you at least hear her out first if that's not her motive? Could you at least find it in your heart to spare her from a death penalty? A better alternative that will ensure she's punished while you're spared punishment from killing her would be to let a council or jury decide her fate. She won't be killed, but at least she'll receive the fair trial and a fair charge instead of being bludgeoned to death simply because she betrayed us. Is that fair to you, Miss Grora, or must you try and do something Hastur might do in your place?"

The fact Arbus seemed to be comparing her to Hastur did upset Grora, though she managed to quell that anger. As much as she hated to admit it, Arbus had a point like the one Etihw made a short while back. Yes, slaughtering Ater was probably something that jackass would do if he were in this situation instead of her. Even so, Grora didn't want to accept the idea of Ater surviving due to execution being a fair sentence in her mind because Ater put the lives of everybody in the Gray Garden at risk. That was why she figured a compromise would be acceptable. "Very well, I'll think about it. How's that for what I might do? Whether she lives will still be up to me, but the decision will ultimately be mine alone and neither you nor anybody else can influence it. Is that clear?" She hoped it was so Arbus could stop dwelling on this problem, but the kitty had to open her mouth. It was to be expected, however, for she was Ater's twin sister and greatly cared about the other kitty.

"Not enough," the cat demon remarked to point out a flaw in that idea. "You make it sound like you'll choose to kill her without having to admit it." She had a good point, so Grora rephrased her last comment on the matter before reoffering it to Arbus for her approval on the subject matter.

"Fine, what Ater does will alone influence my decision, understand? If she draws a weapon to attack us, I will slay her. That is as far as I'm willing to go, so don't ask for anything more than it. If you do, I'll stick to my original proposal and end this discussion right here and now, alright?"

"Better, but let me make just one final term clear, Miss Grora," Arbus stated begrudgingly because she couldn't believe what she would be proposing in her next remark. "If my sister wields a weapon against us, I will allow you to beat her up and not interfere with the fight. However, just at least let me try to talk some sense into her even if she's only holding it. As long as she does not lash out at us with it, things should be fine." She sighed bitterly, hating herself for thinking about that notion and offering it as an alternative to spare Ater's life. "I don't like it, though it is necessary for her to learn some strict discipline the hard way depending on the decision she may choose."

"That's your final offer even after I've already made it clear I'd side with the original plan, eh? Eh, why not?" Grora mentioned and shut her eye while shrugging. She wasn't exactly pleased with the deal, but had been impressed by how far and low Arbus was willing to go to save the life of her twin sister. The black haired cat demon might not have shown it at this moment, though the kindness she displayed for Ater was still there even if it was rough. "I'll accept that since you seem to be really determined to spare her from my own wrath. Death will be left off the table for now."

Arbus breathed a sigh of relief, grateful the angel accepted that much. "Thank you for that, Miss Grora. I appreciate it, and I'm sure Ater will too once we finally locate and extract her."

Grora merely clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth as the end of this portal was in sight. "Don't mention it. Now come on, we've got a job to do. Let's just get this over with. That looks like the other side leading into the cave, so we'll exit and first take care of any opposition in our way before we perform our investigation of the area for your sister's whereabouts in there."

"I can catch a whiff of her scent once we get inside," Arbus suggested, flying by the angel's side and readying her trident while Grora unsheathed her scimitars, "so I'll know where she went."

"That should help, so get right on it after we concentrate on our foes if any," Grora said as she took a more authoritative stance in the conversation since she was the experienced fighter. The kitty knew of her comrade's past military experience and was content to let her take charge of their situation. Placing her trust in Grora, she hoped the angel would focus on their objective with a firm mind clear of obstacles, distractions, and personal grudges. "Brace yourself for contact with angels if any of them are prepared for a fight. I expect they would be if they could sense the magic flowing through it now. In any case even if they expect the arrival of reinforcements from this route, we'll take the upper hand immediately by going in there weapons blazing since they'll probably believe we might give up if we immediately discover we're outnumbered. Once we ascertain their numbers at this location, our next move would be to make a tactical retreat towards either an area where the enemy will have difficulty traversing properly so we can handle them one at a time, or possibly an area that's hopefully near the entrance so we can receive support from the squads once they arrive. If need be in the latter scenario, we'll lead them out to the open for aid from squads outside."

"Then we look for Ater while acquiring any information if possible?" Arbus asked, taking a moment to check what their priorities were on this mission even as Ater was a primary objective.

"Yes, then we'll search for your sister and beat her to a pulp if she becomes aggressive." It probably didn't sound like the best reply she could give, though Arbus acknowledged that anyway because she did agree to it. Approaching the portal exit now, she and Grora gripped their weapons firmly so they wouldn't be disarmed right away. "The squads will find the information instead."

The black haired cat demon nodded affirmatively. "Alright, fair enough. Let's go."

"Okay, here we go," her angelic companion remarked as they left the portal, emerging over near a few tents with bedrolls set up within them. Two paladins caught sight of them and drew the blades at their sides to attack them, but Grora and Arbus blocked the blows before the former dealt a critical slice at one's face which took him down instantly. The other received a swift kick to his left leg from the cat demon to knock him off balance so she could thrust the trident into his chest.

Upon leaving that space, they discovered the area was devoid of many enemies save for an assortment of two additional paladins and three clerics. Approaching the latter with her bow drawn, Grora fired three arrows at one in rapid succession to take her out for good. The other cleric got in front of her friend, though Arbus changed into a cat form to speed over and morphed back into her humanoid form to thrust the trident into both of them before removing it from their chests to block a strike from a paladin. Grora already shot down the one charging towards her with his claymore drawn, and she buried two arrows into his comrade's knees to knock him down for Arbus. With a quick thrust of the trident, he too was down for the count which cleared the active opposition here.

"What's going on out here?!" an eighth angel shouted from within a large tent, walking out from it to investigate the sound of combat. "Why do I hear fighting out here?! I'm trying to—" He didn't get to finish because Grora silenced him permanently with an arrow to his exposed head.

"Because there is fighting out here, dipshit," she retorted to insult his corpse after they had disposed of those other sun angels they encountered. "Can't say it was all that I anticipated it to be as resistance was far less than what I originally believed it would be on our arrival to this place."

"Do you think this is their entire force here, or could there be more elsewhere?" Arbus had asked once she pulled her trident out of the dead angel and stepped over to the angel from her own world. "I don't hear any fighting in the distance, so where could they be? On their way out?"

"I don't think so, look at how many corpses are present. Counting the eight we killed now," Grora replied and made eye contact with the kitty while holding her arm out to present an addition of three more corpses in this vicinity, "and comparing them with these other guys, we have a total of eleven dead foes. My guess is that they got into some sort of scuffle with Ater. You smell her?" Heading over to one of the three late corpses to examine it, she noticed a familiar set of holes on a part of the cleric's torso which matched Arbus' trident. That confirmed a minor conflict with them, so where had the white haired cat demon gone? And where was the larger part of this unit? Surely they had to be somewhere because looking around, Grora counted a total of forty separate tents.

"Let me see…" her compatriot murmured and shut her eyes. Concentrating on the scent of her sister, Arbus' nose twitched several times as she attempted to distinguish it from the smell they caught which registered to them as being the blood they spilled along with blood there already. A total of thirteen different scents plagued her nostrils, eleven of which were the corpses, one being the cavernous air, and the thirteenth being none other than Ater. Focusing on her sister's, Arbus' nose perked up suddenly as her eyes shot right open. "There, she's somewhere to the south of us!"

"Alright, let's get right on it," her associate responded and immediately pushed herself into a sprint while the cat demon ran alongside her. Nevertheless, Grora allowed Arbus to take the lead this time since she needed the kitty's sense of smell to guide them towards Ater. They both rushed through tunnels weaving this way and that, the scent getting a bit stronger as they progressed deep down into lower levels. Occasionally they reached a few intersections and waited a moment since Arbus needed to pick up the scent again. It was easy as the only scents were the air and Ater. That was what enabled the two of them to progress on the right trail ahead, following it deeper into what might've been the unknown recesses within here. Neither of them stopped pursuing Ater even if a bit of rest was needed considering how far down they might've been, though they continued going by walking. Thankfully Etihw's magic had also supplied the armor with flasks of water they drank from in order to regain their strength since the water was blessed by her to recharge their stamina. Even the flasks were enchanted as well to not run out, though the enchantment would only last for about fifteen uses before they broke. Luckily they each had three flasks each and had enough water.

Eventually the two of them reached a plateau above a steep, rocky hill overlooking another level of the cave, particular a decent sized clearing where they saw another paladin with a cleric at some kind of hole. Gazing upon the thing they guarded, Arbus and Grora could only guess that the hole was some kind of opening or something. Black flames emanated from a door that must've appeared from within the wall, the pillars holding it up appearing to be of ivory obsidian and black stone. A dark purple energy swirled through the frame with an eerie mist oozing from the bottom. From what they saw, it seemed to be a hellish doorway as Arbus cleared her throat to ask about it. "That's an odd entrance. What do you think it could be, Miss Grora? Do you have an idea of where it might go?" she inquired, staring at the strange door. "Do you think Ater went through that way?"

"No, never seen anything like it; though I'll wager it's fairly ancient. See the wall." Holding an arm forward and pointing at the cavernous space, she motioned for the cat to examine the space where this doorway seemed to emerge from. "The door's been built into it from what I can see, so we must've happened across an old dungeon of sorts from the looks of it. Maybe one from during the war, or perhaps before it. Either way it doesn't matter because this doesn't pertain to our goal."

Arbus swallowed heavily, somehow feeling a bit nervous for whatever reason. Maybe that was due to the air seeping through the strange doorway, but she nevertheless concentrated on Ater. "Do you believe Ater may have gone inside? Could she be somewhere within that old dungeon?"

"Possibly, seeing as how the clearing down there is the end of this route from what I see," Grora responded, directing the cat demon to follow her down a path she spotted from a brief glance around their position in search of an easier way down. Granted, they could've flown down, though the beating of their wings would've alerted the two guards down there already. The cleric's arsenal of light magic probably included long range spells like beams of light and fireballs for instance. It would've been a disadvantage for both of them if they approached while she was on duty guarding the entrance. That was why Grora and Arbus opted for safer alternative by taking the path because it would better protect them by giving them the advantage instead. Drawing her bow, Grora nocked the string with three arrows and prepared to fire them at the cleric to take her down so they wouldn't have too much trouble dealing with the paladin when she took notice of them and attacked as well.

The two of them were about to approach when the paladin turned her head upon hearing a pair of two different sets of footsteps. Cautiously drawing her sun sword, she raised her shield and kept it close while addressing the newcomers approaching them. "Who goes there? Has our camp been attacked, or are you both reinforcements sent to aid us?" she inquired, wondering why they've received visitors. Apparently their eyes were both closed tight, therefore making the girls oblivious to the identities of said visitors until Grora spoke up to address the paladin's inquiry about them.

"Enemies who have already taken care of the surviving angels at your camp and have come to deny you both aid," she commented sarcastically, shooting her arrows at the cleric who dodged those arrows by purposely tumbling out of the way before making her own voice heard.

"Impossible, there's only two of you! You were outnumbered by eight of our own!"

"Yeah, we divided them already," the angelic lady from the Gray Garden remarked with a hint of sarcasm in her own voice before continuing to address these opponents. Thankfully Arbus' awareness of the situation and what her comrade was doing kept her from charging into the fray a bit sooner than necessary. She allowed Grora to further try and interrogate the sun angels. "We're not in the mood for taking you idiots on right now," Grora antagonized them while nocking another arrow, somewhat impressed with the cleric's sense of hearing in spite of not smiling sardonically. "We've only come to recollect a traitor of ours and head out before the squads come in to take you out for us. Your camp's been emptied and now it's just you two standing in our way. I'll give you both a choice: either stand down and let us pass while informing us where the other cat demon can be found, or fight and die on behalf of your Sun Heaven. Take your pick, whichever works best."

"Yeah, for us, not you!" the cleric retorted to them before her comrade held her hand up to quiet her. Taking the cue, the cleric merely prepared a light spell to buff her friend's defense for a good while so her comrade could stand up against their foes and attempt to take them down easily.

"Ah, the demon who just couldn't accept her fate and chose to betray us by refusing to get executed," the paladin murmured, surprising Arbus with the remark because it meant Ater must've still been alive. Yet the paladin continued speaking to extinguish that hope. "Yes, she fled through here while our comrades pursued her after she slew three of our peers back in camp. You'll never get through us, and even if you did, you'll still find she'll have already been slain with the undead."

Trembling since she feared her sister's life could've been snuffed out at any moment, Arbus sniffed and tipped her head down before raising it to angrily threaten the sun angels. "You bastards! If you touch even one hair on my sister's head, I'll slaughter you without mercy and let you rot in this abominable grave! You hear me?! This place will be your tomb, and you'll never leave!" Her sudden display of rage would've made Grora chuckle had they not been confronting two enemies. The angelic lady beside her could only imagine how ironic it was with Arbus getting mad as Grora maintained her collected demeanor, the opposite of what they were like coming through the portal.

"You're one to talk, demon," the paladin challenged her, getting ready to charge, "but I am afraid it will be your tomb instead. Now, prepare to fall to my blade and die for Lord Siralos." The threat was backed up with her beginning to charge the two of them, though a sudden scream echoed from the doorway which stopped the paladin in her tracks. Whirling around to face it, the four girls all watched as another sun angel burst through the doorway and sprinted away before flying up in the air to escape. "Private Lenny!" the paladin shouted at him. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Retreat!" he shouted back at them. "They're too strong! We've been overwhelmed!" That sudden about face on his part angered his comrades, but confused Grora and Arbus even as the cat demon became worried for her sister's life. The fact that paladin mentioned undead meant her twin could've become a victim of undead monstrosities as well, so she needed to rush forward for Ater. However, Grora stopped her when they heard some sort of explosion from the entrance as an array of tendrils shot through it. Too fast to stop, they engulfed the paladin and smashed her blade when she swung at it prior to dragging her screaming form through the door. Even the cleric was snatched up as well and her silver mace broke too when a tendril crushed it, and she was also taken into the entrance while screaming for help. Although she attempted to hold onto the doorframe for support, it was futile as those tendrils were too strong as one smacked her, forcing the poor girl to relinquish her grip for her to be yanked into the other side, never to be seen or heard from ever again.

This sudden show of an unexpected development left Grora and Arbus free to pursue Ater. However, it also produced a sickening dread within the former because the angel recognized those tendrils. She had seen them only once before, and they remained ingrained in her memory because of who the individual wielding them was and how strong said individual was. Grora grimaced, not liking the present situation they found themselves in because they would likely face her again and most likely fall to her. Arbus never met her despite having heard about her, though Grora knew all attempts to successfully reclaim Ater were quite possibly doomed to failure since this dangerously malevolent enemy had returned. She was back, and Grora put the name to this evil threat: Soa.

…

 **Although I originally intended for this chapter to be about a boss battle between Ater and Grora, I am quite pleased with how it turned out. What we get here is some expositional bonding between Grora and Arbus during their mission to extract Ater from Siralos' forces. While I've taken care to ensure it is connected to the story and ties the three main characters together, I've also left it open to some obvious predictions you might make about how Grora is tied to Ater and Arbus in the context of** _Atonement_ **. All I ask is that you please keep any of your predictions regarding them to yourself so as not to spoil it for other readers even if they get it too. Remember, you might know it before these characters, but they don't know yet as they are meant to find out about this later on. Up next is the aforementioned boss battle.**

 **I also forget to mention this in the last chapter, but I named Bern after a country from Fire Emblem: Binding Blade and its prequel/sequel, Rekka no Ken. The name comes from a capital city in Switzerland as well, but I focused more on the nation in Fire Emblem as I was thinking about a name for this minor character. My apologies for not mentioning it last time.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem; it's owned by Intelligent Systems of Nintendo.**

 **Edit: Edited a paragraph here to be consistent with a later chapter of** _Atonement_ **.**


	13. Chapter Thirteen: VS Ater

They stood there observing the door through which the two sun angels were taken through by force for what seemed like several minutes. Neither of them said anything to the other, but their reactions differed upon witnessing the terrible sight that took place before their eyes. Arbus merely shivered, eyes wide with shock since she could not believe what she'd seen, whereas Grora gritted her teeth out of irritation because she knew they'd probably have to face Soa once again. Raspbel's doppelganger wasn't seen or heard from for quite a while, but the authorities expected to encounter her again for that very reason. Although the cat demon never met her and was unaware of how bad Soa was, the angel could recall losing to her at Macarona's house when the monster chose to attack the place to kidnap the younger angel and Rawberry. That silver arrow she shot into Soa's head in the midst of the home invasion had no effect, and even Etihw herself was no match for Soa because the doppelganger was far stronger and more powerful than they had originally anticipated at first.

Remaining where they were without moving since surprise and shock completely overtook the pair, Arbus swallowed heavily and drew closer to Grora as she placed a hand on her shoulder. "M-miss Grora…" she spoke in a quivering voice because she thought she had witnessed a monster much like a squid or an octopus—maybe it even one of those rarer krakens seen underwater. Arbus hesitated to continue, though eventually found the strength to put forth the rest of her inquiry since she hopefully sought an answer to it. "W-what was that? C-could that have been a powerful beast?" She shuddered and prepared her trident, steeling herself to combat whatever manner of foul fiends lie in wait within the shadows of what could've lain on the other side of this massive entranceway.

"Oh, yeah," her companion responded, not once losing her cool like Arbus seemed to have. She pulled the walkie talkie off her belt to radio Wodahs and inform him of their discovery, taking a couple moments to find a good frequency and range of contact by walking further away from the door in spite of staying within the clearing. "We've just caught a glimpse of our world's powerful foe right there, deciding to show those damn tendrils of hers around here once again." Gritting her teeth again and turning back to the entrance, Grora growled upon seeing what may have been some subterranean structures underneath. That must've been a part of Moreisineum, perhaps a part of it that wasn't encountered when the excavation team Kcalb and Maurice led went into that city. She grimaced, frowning because she and Arbus were in deep shit right now since Soa had returned.

"W-wait, you know this monster?" the kitty asked in confusion while her comrade fiddled with the radio. "You've encountered it before, right? Surely you know how to handle it safely?"

"Yep, I fought her before and going toe to toe with her isn't safe in the slightest," the angel replied, finally getting the walkie talkie working properly as Arbus stepped over to hear her speak with the Head Angel. "About time I got a signal…" Grora muttered before talking. "This is Grora speaking. You there, Head Angel? We've got a big problem on our hands, as in a deadly calamity."

"I'm here, alright, Grora," came Wodahs' voice across the speaker when he responded. "It is feeling a bit safer here already since my brother and Lady Etihw have finished closing all of the portals and sealed them tightly. Siralos won't be getting in anytime soon, and more won't form in our world. They're currently establishing an invisible barrier that will sense whenever a portal may be established ahead of time so we'll be prepared to handle the situation when it emerges," he said to explain their solution to the issue pertaining to those damn portals. "Now then, report in, Grora. Have you encountered any resistance upon your arrival? Were you and Arbus able to handle those foes if any? Did you leave any of them alive for us to question?" he inquired for information.

"Yeah, we certainly encountered resistance and have found a significant problem here. The sun angels were a complete joke. Hardly any of them we met were good enough to match us in the fight against them, so we mopped the cave floor with those guys. We just saw one fly off towards their camp, I'd say. The squads will certainly catch him later—I believe one of the enemy soldiers referred to him as Private Lenny, so there's a bit of info for ya when you interrogate the bastard."

"I see," the Head Angel remarked from his end of the call. "And what of Ater?" Have you both managed to find her, or any clues as to her whereabouts? Was she captured, or did she betray us fully by deciding to completely enlist her services in combat to him against the Gray Garden?"

"Hard to say, really. Arbus and I encountered eight live ones at their camp and slaughtered them all, though three additional corpses were present as well. From the looks of it, I'd guess they must've attempted to detain her and she fought back. We met a couple of girls in their forces before that Lenny guy came through, and one of them made the claim they attempted to execute her. It's their word against Ater's, so we can't be sure if the account can be considered trustworthy or not. In total, we've seen fourteen angels from the Sun God's army: eleven alive until ten died while the other got away, and three already dead," she explained the matter of those sun angels to Wodahs.

"Were they all of the foes you encountered?"

"Yep, though I counted forty bedrolls at their basecamp. Twenty-six remain, and I suspect the rest are through this weird door Arbus and I discovered where we met those two girls and saw Lenny withdraw." Cautiously approaching the door now, Grora noted it was covered in some kind of ancient dialect she couldn't make out. The markings were certainly primordially eldritch, so the carvings couldn't have been etched into the stonework a century or so ago. Grora was a little over a few centuries old herself, thereby making her quite the ancient relic among this world; although the war itself spanned many centuries according to her knowledge of it, this writing look older. An ancient language like this was a prize for the anthropology and archaeology departments, yet Grora felt even they might not be able to ascertain what exactly this dialect meant and what it even said.

"Describe it for me," Wodahs instructed her.

"Pillars made from black stone and ivory obsidian as far as I can tell. Dark fire radiating in its construct with mist sprouting from the bottom. Covered in this weird dialect with quite a lot of dark energy also radiating from it. Feels ancient; I'd even go so far as to say it's eldritch and maybe even primordial to some extent. I've never seen anything like it, though that's not the problem."

This last part of her description caught the Head Angel's attention as he began to allude to it. "Ah, yes, you did say the two of you ran into a particular bit of trouble on your mission. Grora, would you mind elaborating on the nature of whatever this issue you and Arbus found might be?"

"Tendrils," was the one word response Grora began her answer with. "Guess whose back?"

"Tendrils?" Wodahs repeated the word as he thought of who his subordinate was referring to. Obviously it was somebody who had tendrils as body parts, or an individual who could summon them instead. He didn't make the same connection the angelic woman made because he didn't see them and had never met Raspbel's doppelganger in person. It was only natural for the Head Angel to not understand what Grora was getting at, though he focused on her rhetorical question to better comprehend the matter since it alluded to somebody they had faced off against before, even if he'd not met her directly like she had. "Wait, you don't mean her, do you? That one doppelganger?"

"Yes, Soa, Raspbel's doppelganger whom we met months ago last year," Grora clarified it for him, also surprising Arbus because the black haired cat demon heard about her too. "She came back for real as we had thought. Things have just gone from bad to worse, I'm afraid. I don't know how she's involved in all this even though I doubt she even has a role to play in this affair, though it doesn't matter. Soa's returned, and we're officially screwed if we so much as encounter her."

"You've actually seen her in person just like last time?"

"Only her tendrils, though they did leave a lasting impression on me after she slammed me into a bookcase. I can definitely recognize them, I know it's definitely her. Proceeding from here is going to be extremely difficult, especially as Ater most likely crossed over that threshold I just described into what I can only imagine is Soa's territory," the angel explained just as Arbus' eyes bulged out of their sockets at the thought of her twin sister dying to a cannibalistic doppelganger. The kitty tried to charge straight in after Ater, but Grora held her back to continue the conversation between her and Wodahs with Arbus present for it. "So how should we handle it? With caution?"

"Absolutely, but do withdraw elsewhere if you encounter her. Enter at your own risk," the Head Angel warned them. "Should you ever come across her within that place, find a safe spot for hiding to plan out your next move. Avoid facing her at all costs. You do remember what happened to Lady Etihw when she tried to take on Soa, right?" Indeed, Grora could definitely recall the fact that the Goddess saved Raspbel from a dreadful attack which proved far superior to Etihw's magic. It nearly cost Etihw her life by leaving her on the verge of death. Even Grora literally came almost very close to that brink as well, but thankfully that healing spell the Goddess used saved her life.

"Fret not, Head Angel, I'll handle the situation with care and keep Arbus from running off after Ater," she reassured him they would be careful. "You have my word we'll not fight Soa, but I cannot say the same for the other sun angels and undead. I suspect the rest of the force, if not all of them, are currently on the other side of this gateway in the middle of fighting undead since one of the girls mentioned those things were too. I suppose Soa's probably amongst them as well, and I hope she and those undead are distracted by fighting off the sun angels just as the latter are with them. That should hopefully buy us time to find Ater and get out of here with them all unaware."

"Good, and whatever you do, Grora, make sure Ater is unharmed."

"Yeah, about that…see, Arbus promised she'd let me beat some sense into the little shit if she attacks us. I'll not kill her, but at least she'll face some strict discipline." Her response garnered a sigh of frustration from the Head Angel, yet although it sounded like he was irritated, he did not say anything in opposition to the idea. "Hey, at least she'll come back alive. Just deal with it."

"You'd better hope you don't leave her on the brink of death, Grora. Wodahs out." Saying so, he ended the call from his end as Grora pocketed the radio to her belt again and faced Arbus.

"Okay, look, Arbus, you heard the man," she stated to get her attention. "We're not to face Soa at all costs, understand? Doing so will result in our own deaths and we'll never get your sister out of here if we're dead or dying. Trust me, I've faced her before and I know how to handle this." The angel clearly made logical sense as did the Head Angel which calmed the cat demon down for a bit. However, Arbus still couldn't come to terms with the fact her sister was in grave danger from not just one deadly threat, but three: sun angels, undead, and Soa. She still looked afraid and unsure of a solution that would get the three of them out in one piece unscathed, so Grora elaborated more on how they'd rescue Ater. "Listen, Arbus, our weapons are useless against Soa. I learned that the hard way by shooting an enchanted silver arrow into her skull and found it didn't harm her at all. We can still try to take on these undead and the sun angels if we encounter them when those guys get in our way if possible, but we have to be stealthy about this to avoid a confrontation with Soa, got it? There's only two of us and more of them, so we should be able to quietly get by unseen."

Despite feeling somewhat insecure about their plan, Arbus nodded to concur with it as that seemed like the best solution to approaching this problem. "Alright…" she said in a quivering tone even as she managed to regain her composure for Ater's sake. "I'm with you, Miss Grora."

"Good," Grora nodded as well and directed her to other side of the threshold. "Go there to keep a watch on this side while I peek around the other. Let's check our corners first before going straight in." Creeping up to her side while the cat demon did as she was instructed, they both took a careful peek in and found no movement of any oppositional forces in their way. Quickly making a hand sign to signal their advance, the angel sheathed her bow and drew the scimitars in case they were suddenly ambushed by an unseen threat. Quietly crossing the massive threshold, they quickly found themselves in what appeared to be some kind of city produced from the same materials used to construct that monolithic doorway. Everywhere they looked Grora and Arbus could make out a lot of towering structures of all shapes and sizes they couldn't even describe aside from labeling it as a city of some kind. Emerging onto a half circular platform, the two of them approached another part of it by crossing over to a railing and peering down into the streets below their position.

Noting two angelic corpses on the ground Arbus held her arm out and pointed at them both. "Look, Miss Grora, more sun angels," she commented as her companion examined the surrounding area for any sign of enemies before vaulting over the railing with Arbus in tow. Approaching those particular corpses, Grora kneeled down beside them and turned the cadavers over to examine them. She frowned and stifled bile back in her throat upon seeing how mutilated these girls were. Arbus was also fighting back the urge to vomit because any noise might've attracted unwanted attention.

"They're the same ones we've just seen," the angel mentioned and stood up. "They've been eaten. Soa cannibalized them. She's been here for sure. I'm actually surprised she hasn't emerged from that entrance and come after us. Look here." Pointing to footprints going down an alleyway, they followed them through them en route to find where the doppelganger could've gone. "These must be her footprints, and I can hear a bit of fighting going on in this direction." While it was fatally stupid to follow the tracks, the girls hardly had any lead of where to go even though Arbus could've caught Ater's scent. "Arbus, could you still get a clue on your sister from here? Try and see if you can smell her presence once more. Maybe she'll be somewhere around here so we could be in and out in no time. I sure as hell wouldn't want to linger any longer than necessary."

"Already on it," the cat demon murmured quietly and shut her eyes, gripping her comrade's shoulder to use the angel as a guide while they walked. Like before when they attacked the angels from the Sun Heaven, her nose twitched slightly as she tried to determine where Ater went from a trail she could've left behind. She focused specifically on that, though it became harder to actually define her sister's from the strange miasmatic air emanating around them. Although they both felt quite fine as a matter of fact, something about its scent felt…dead, as if this decrepit city had been the location of a gargantuan plot following the spread of whatever killed its inhabitants. While the angel could name warfare and a plague as two causes, there were other possibilities and it could've even been both of those first two. Arbus couldn't imagine what happened here however far back a place like this had once thrived until its eventual fall, so she was lucky to be spared those thoughts.

They emerged within a street where the tracks ended and no sign of Soa's presence except for her footprints was evident anywhere else. To their left and right were more unknown structures and across from them over a deep chasm in the ground was another set of alike buildings including a tower high above the other ones. Neither Grora nor Arbus could see the ceiling, so it must have been high up which wouldn't have made much sense because this city would've had to pierce the soil aboveground at some point. Based on that observation alone, the angelic lady hypothesized an enigmatic theory about that entranceway they crossed over: that it was more like a portal than that door it appeared to be. Yet it hadn't looked or felt like any other portal she encountered throughout her life and recently with the emergence of Siralos' portals. Maybe that was because of a different appearance, though Grora couldn't be sure and it hardly mattered how this was possible right now. She merely stayed in the shadows with her companion and looked to her for guidance to Ater. The opportunity to ask about that was too soon, but she inquired anyway. "Any luck catching a whiff?"

"It's hard…" Arbus whispered. "The air's thick here with this other stench. I cannot really concentrate all that well because of it. It's too hard to focus on Ater due to how powerful it is. The smell is overwhelming my nostrils." She opened her eyes and took a deep breath, averting her gaze to the angel while removing her hand from her. "S-sorry," she apologized nervously, "I was unable to locate her scent effectively to pinpoint where she might've gone." The cat demon sniffed, a lone tear forming in one eye and trailing down her cheek which she wiped away. "I wish she was here."

"I can't imagine where else Ater could've gone. Your nose led us right to this place," Grora pointed out and looked towards the tower. "I may not like either of you, but I'll admit you two got a real good sense of smell, better than the bloodhounds our colleagues in the castle train. If the girl is that hard to locate by scent amidst this strange miasma of sorts, it's probably better to focus our efforts on visual cues and find a vantage point from here." She looked up at the tower and frowned. It was tall, that much was for sure, yet the structure was scalable. "This tower's as good a place to start as any, so we'll climb up and get a better view of our surroundings—or fly if need be. Maybe we could even see what's going on to our left; that's where I can hear the conflict, whatever it is."

"I can hear it too, and my ears are picking up on screams and cries for backup to aid them," Arbus whispered softly, looking in that direction. "None of them are Ater. It must be those angels."

"Seems like Siralos' troops wound up over their heads in a situation they can't control too effectively," Grora suggested and led Arbus to the chasm as they began to fly over it, hoping they weren't seized by any creatures lurking within the darkness below. "They might be outnumbered." Landing safely on the other side, the two of them breathed sighs of relief and stepped over to their vantage point by approaching the front door. "Mitchell said Siralos would even hire demon mercs to do his bidding by letting them handle dirty work prior to wiping out the demons with his army. Apparently his former guild used to be too much for the Sun God to maintain and execute, leading to a series of raids on the Sun Heaven's territories. Looks like they made a similar mistake here."

"You think we might have to sneak past the undead in this city if the sun angels are killed?"

"Those guys will no longer be a concern if they fall, leaving whatever undead beings within this area and Soa as the main threats we'll have to avoid," Grora stated to her as they both walked in and examined the stairs. They looked sturdy despite being in a decrepitly eldritch state, and the angelic woman tested them first to ensure they were safe enough to support the combined weight of her and Arbus. A bar blocked off a square shaped hole in the floor at the base of this spiraling staircase, and the cat demon satisfied her curiosity by looking down into it as a way of determining if she could see or hear anything. The former sense wasn't too effective, but she nevertheless made out strange sounds from below which sent shivers down her spine. It sounded like something was slithering down there within the darkness, an unknown monster probably never discovered before.

"This place is really creepy," she murmured nervously and began to carefully follow Grora up the stairs towards the top. "It's so dark and we can barely see much of anything around us."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," the angel agreed with her as they continued to ascend. "It would've been better to have brought an electric torch or a flashlight along with us. I think I might know a minor light spell if I remember correctly, but I'll need to channel what little energy I have into it. The spell may not last long, hence why I'd like to conserve it for when we need it. Speaking of seeing," she thought of an idea and paused in her ambling up the tower, "you've got much better eyesight in the dark, right, Arbus? You can see where we're going at the very least, is that it?"

"A little bit, yeah, but not much. I can only see up a few more feet and in front of me."

"Then stay close to me and let me know if anything's near."

"Gotcha," Arbus replied when they suddenly heard a scream from up top which caught the two of them off guard. The sudden noise actually startled them because of how near it was, and an even more disturbing sight was a body hurtling down the center past towards the hole. Blood nearly spattered on them, though the girls held their ground as the angel held the cat demon close for just a bit of comfort while providing some to the kitty. They both stood there with an arm wrapped by the other's waist to keep themselves steady on the stairs, attentively listening for more screams or other kinds of noise such as the shuffling and scampering of feet and long legs they heard too. The sudden scare unnerved them slightly as they thought they weren't even close to the fighting. "That was a sun crest on that soldier's uniform," the cat demon remarked in surprise, having seen a quick glimpse of the symbol while the cadaver spiraled down past them. "His death smells fresh."

"Must've been a recent kill, specifically at this moment," Grora murmured and looked up. She expected whatever slew the guy to come forward and collect the corpse. Whatever slaughtered him was unknown, but Grora prepared her scimitars to slay the thing—or flee if it was in fact Soa.

"W-what do you think killed him?" the kitty asked nervously, wondering if the angel could answer it if she knew. Peeking over the railing towards the hole, she could barely make it out from where they stood. Having pulled away from Grora to better examine it, she squinted towards it and attempted to make out what kind of wounds were dealt to the poor guy when his corpse was pulled into the hole by something. That's what it sounded like at least since Arbus was able to hear some kind of slithering ascending the hole for the body and it only made her shudder timidly. "Just what is this place, Miss Grora? How is someplace like this able to exist within our world without anyone else noticing its presence?" Good questions, yet Grora didn't have satisfactory answers to them.

The angel merely shrugged as they continued going up, nearing a quarter of the building's height. "Eh, beats me. I've never been this far down in any of the dungeons I've explored. There's no telling what we'd find here. I don't even know how this went unfelt by our Goddess and Devil." She sighed, peering up into the darkness above and deciding it probably would've been faster just to fly up there rather than slowly ascend at a snail's pace. "I've heard stories from that excavation team that investigated Moreisineum; you know, that place of ghouls Raspbel was in. They did not see anything too weird even if they heard the occasional odd sound, and those noises from an abyss they found down there made it seem like something gargantuan was lurking below." Her comments didn't help soothe the cat demon's nerves, so she merely dropped the subject with one final remark. "Thankfully the place has been sealed up so nobody can ever go back, and the ghouls appear to be dead and fully extinct now from the looks of it. There've been no further reports of their activities in our world, so I'd say it's safe to assume they've been killed by Soa in that event she mentioned." She couldn't remember the name of it, but it didn't matter now since Ater was their prime concern.

"T-that's nice and all, but can we please move on to find my sister now?" Arbus asked due to feeling like they've wasted enough time here already chatting the time away rather than search.

"Yeah, we'll speed things up a bit at the expense of making noise," Grora commented and turned to face her. "Come on, we'll fly the rest of the way up. It'll be faster than our sluggish climb up even if we draw attention to ourselves. Still, I can't hear anything else nearby and it sounds like whatever just killed that guy beat it without another thought." That said, she vaulted over the railing and began to flap her wings while continuing to scale the tower via this method. Arbus followed a moment later and together their wings beat in midair for a quicker ascension enabling them to find the top much faster than they would've by walking. Nothing attacked them on the way up and the two of them didn't encounter any resistance of any kind whether it was from sun angels or undead.

Yet they caught sight of a glim light brightening the further they flew, eventually reaching another door and stepping out into a beautiful garden of sorts with a dead tree in the center, a kind of glade with stone benches, pillars, and old statues dotting the place. Dead plants surrounded them as they emerged from the tower to find various glowing gemstones wedged into the stonework that made them both widened they eyes in amazement. "Wow…" the cat demon murmured, fascinated by their discovery. "This place is so pretty, even for a decaying spot of nature." She was right, it was pretty in a morbid way. Despite preferring live gardens as opposed to dead ones, it was pretty.

"I'll say…" Grora uttered and cautiously sauntered to a railing for a look around the place. "I never expected to find something like this in a rotting city under the ground. Whoever built this place back then certainly did quite an impressive job constructing the city as impressive as it might have been back then." Resting her arms on it after checking to see if it was stable, the angelic lady gazed upon what could've been thousands upon thousands of similar lights all throughout the city. Arbus joined her and the two girls watched the settings in utter fascination. Below them was plain darkness, but up here was the brighter portion they were unable to even see from down there when they first crossed that entryway. There were so many other kinds of towers like this one along with impressive buildings such as a coliseum, a gargantuan monastery with a cathedral in it, plus a huge bell tower next to what looked like a clock tower. All of the sights were primordially eldritch. The place was a dream come true for the archaeology and anthropology departments, and Grora could imagine them celebrating the discovery of this place here within the city she and Arbus discovered.

"Man, it's so breathtaking…" Arbus murmured quietly in the moment, taking all this in.

"Mm…" Grora silently concurred with a small grunt of agreement when the sound of some fighting caught her attention and she turned her eye towards the source of it. Her eye widened out of surprise, for she found something she believed Arbus needed to see. "Look, Arbus, I see the sun angels—well, what's left of their force here, anyway." Pointing down at the monastery nearby, she let the cat demon beside her watch the conflict unfold before their eyes. From their vantage point, the girls could make out a scuffle between six sun angels screaming and crying for help against an assortment of undead foes. The latter significantly outnumbered them, and the cadavers of several more sun angels were strewn about them. Siralos' troops could not withstand the threat and another of them went down, leaving five remaining soldiers left alive. Faced with a situation they couldn't hope to ever control, the survivors fled into the cathedral and slammed the doors behind them. The two girls could also make out a number of holes along the sides near a cemetery around the building for the undead to pass through. Those poor sun angels were definitely in for quite a slaughter, only they were the ones who would die. Yet there was another sight which caught Grora's attention and made her eye bulge out slightly when she saw her. "Arbus, look to the monastery's gateway!" she raised her voice and pointed there to reveal to the cat demon what she'd seen—who she'd spotted.

There, being given access to the passage by the horde of undead that seemed to honor their mistress by letting her pass by as they all got into two separate orderly lines, was in fact none other than Soa herself. Tendrils sprouted from her hair and body, the ones on her back having formed in the shape of bat-like dragon wings which had begun to recede into her body. She was approaching the main entrance into the cathedral, the tendrils from her hair morphing into a large appendage in the shape of a boulder or a fist. From the look of it, Soa would bash the door down. The sun angels were in for the terror of their lives, becoming meals for the demonic cannibal approaching them.

"Miss Grora!" Arbus suddenly shouted, pointing to the coliseum. Her reaction got Grora's attention, and she turned to look where the kitty was pointing. Narrowing her eye, she grimaced at the sight of Ater walking up the front steps while following another figure they couldn't make out. The white haired cat demon and her escort or captor were flanked on either side by undead as well, much like the more aggressive ones attacking the party of sun angels. Unlike their comrades within the monastery grounds, they were not attacking Ater as if they were keeping her from escaping.

"Well, I'll be damned, it's Ater," Grora growled in anger. "Looks like we found her."

"We have to save her! She's in danger!" the cat demon beside her cried out and attempted to leap into the air, though Grora held her back and started to scold her in a hissing tone against it.

"You dolt! You realize you'll be jeopardizing our position if you fly on over and start going up against that many undead?! Look at how many are down there!" Holding her arm out, the angel indicated there were possibly thousands of undead beings shambling throughout the streets as they were beginning to circulate around the area Grora and Arbus were in. Several began emerging out of darkened shadows, others joining the fray against the sun angels their comrades marched upon, Soa taking the lead as she smashed the cathedral door into little splinters of stone and wood before heading inside. Ater had already entered the coliseum at this point and couldn't be seen anymore.

"But we can't just sit here and do nothing!"

"I did not say we'd withdraw and sit on our asses! This is a stealth mission! If you're going to do something stupid, leave me out of it so I can finish the job!" Grora hissed at the kitty.

"There must be thousands of these guys! How are we going to get past them unnoticed?!"

"Simple: no more flying for now; we hurry on foot from here on out towards her location," the cat demon's companion explained and whipped her head around in search of a bridge to cross over towards that particular section of the city. Finding one nearby and quickly pushing Arbus into the dead plants to join her as they hid from a wandering patrol of weird undead creatures, the girls allowed them to pass right by them. Once those things descended into the tower, Grora pulled her comrade up and led her to the bridge. "We'll cross this and find our way from here. Come on, let's go, I don't want to sit around waiting for those monsters to come back or for any of their associates to pass through here too. You with me on this, Arbus?" she explained, turning her head to Arbus.

The kitty nodded, determined to find and save Ater. "Roger that!" she whispered.

Grora also nodded. "Good, now come on. Time for us to get a move on."

…

"Dammit, this isn't good. How many of us remain?"

"It's just us left, sir. There's only five of us now," the soldier reported in as they set up the sun barriers to block the holes in an effort to blockade the undead and prevent them from entering. It was no use, unfortunately, for these things simply walked through the barriers as if they were no threat to them. Perhaps they were completely immune to the sun's power, having resided down in this cavern for what might've been an eternity to forever. "They're breaking down the barriers!"

Bern gritted his teeth, irritated that their forces had gotten split up into groups that were not likely to survive. They had originally come with a squad of twenty men and openly confronted the lich demon with an immediate threat before beginning the fight against her and that odd companion of hers. The two of them were backed up by this undead scourge of a horde, and the sun angels in the squad started to fall one by one. Soon there were only sixteen left in the original force prior to making an attempt at a withdrawal because they found their attacks did no damage. Their weapons merely broke against the undead, and their magic didn't do a thing against them. Even escape was impossible because some kind of slithering force prevented them from escaping and picked off an esteemed recruit which left fifteen members left. From that point on they all scattered, unsure of a possible route or safe spot to hide in where they could rest and regroup if possible. Their efforts at quelling this threat were useless, for their foes were far superior in strength compared to them.

"They're closing in, sir! What should we do?!" one of the clerics under him panicked when the undead started to approach. She received no answer, however, for she and the other three were all immediately cut down. Weaponless and with even his own shield smashed, Bern realized there was no escape from this building. It would be his tomb, but he would not go down without a fight.

"You monsters want a piece of me?!" he shouted, raising his fists to fight them barehanded. "Come get some!" For a moment he thought his challenge subdued them because they halted quite suddenly. Yet the main entrance into the cathedral exploded with such force that it sent pieces that were used to construct it flying in all directions. Luckily Bern wasn't pierced, though his luck ran out when one of the two leaders heading the undead in this subterranean city strolled right in.

" _Why, I'd love a piece of you!"_ she cooed, laughing maniacally as she approached, tendrils flowing from her body. One of them shot towards a fallen paladin and pulled him towards her, and the doppelganger bit down hard on his face to rip it clean off. Blood and inner organs fell out while she continued to tear into the corpse, ripping the armor asunder to devour her victim whole. Soa's appetite was beginning to make Bern sick, and he thought about taking back his threat until it was too late because she had already finished and had suddenly warped in front of him. _"Well, quite a lot more than a piece if you catch my drift,"_ she chuckled sinisterly and ripped into him next with her tendrils, instantly killing the lieutenant paladin before eating him with a smile. _"Delicious!"_

…

They had split up once they reached the coliseum after a short while of hurrying through a set of alleys and streets by weaving past patrols of undead soldiers. Sometimes they had to hide to wait out a group of them, and once Arbus and Grora managed to catch a better glimpse of them. It was difficult to describe what exactly they were, though Grora understood they used to be demons of some sort from the looks of their cadaverous faces. Arbus concurred with her theory when Grora relayed it to her, having caught a whiff of their scent, and she could definitely tell they were demon corpses. However, neither of them could exactly guess as to how old these bodies were. The armor on them was primordial, and the weapons equally so. The undead certainly weren't from around a world like the Gray Garden, so had they somehow moved here? Was the city originally elsewhere?

It was difficult to theorize since they couldn't understand the nature of this place and those undead things that inhabited it. Everything was so bizarre and eldritch from an ancient standpoint. Grora only went with what her gut told her, and that was the assumption that the ancient location was not as safe as one might've understood from the pretext. She stiffened her body, turning rigid so she could better hide behind a concrete wall to avoid the wandering patrol near her position. An opening into the old structure lay ahead of her just beyond it, and she waited for the coast to clear. Holding her breath she remained calm while listening to the corpses shamble along without taking the time to check if she was around. That was a relief, and she hoped Arbus had the same luck too on the other side of this massive building. She may have disliked her, but she still needed the kitty.

She still need Arbus to talk sense into Ater so the angel wouldn't have to resort to harming the white haired cat demon. Personally Grora actually did still want to kill her, though the deal she made with Arbus was fair enough which was why she opted for a lesser punishment this time. She would rejoice in hearing how the trial went if she couldn't attend it, imagining all the trouble Ater got into after being scolded and charged for violating their world's trust by betraying them to some other world—the very same world Ivlis came from, in fact. Grora believed Etihw and Kcalb would not let her be present for that affair considering how much she absolutely despised Ater. Still, word would get around eventually and sooner or later she would become aware of how the trial fared.

Daydreaming about it was nice and all since it uplifted her spirits, though Grora still had a job to do. Once the patrol was out of sight, the angelic lady slunk over to the coliseum wall to head through the hole she spotted. Winding up in a barracks of sorts where gladiators probably would've slept, she crossed the room to a doorway and peeked out into the hall. A lone undead guard passed by her, but didn't notice because she hid at the right moment to avoid it and the giant halberd that corpse held firmly in its hand with a tower shield in the other. Grora would've assaulted it, though the risk of getting caught if she hadn't slain the corpse in one hit would've been detrimental to the effort of staying stealthy as she'd be discovered and probably outnumbered by more of them. Plus she closely watched the conflict between them and the remaining sun angels she saw earlier at the garden. From where she and Arbus stood, the angel was able to make out some spells cast at those horrible scourges to no avail. Magic was useless, and their weapons might've even broken on them too just as they likely would've on Soa. Thank god the doppelganger was over there and not here.

Leaving the guard to his duties, Grora silently sprinted through the dimly lit hall decorated by markings like the ones she'd seen on the entrance into this unknown city. Passing a door by her left, she peered in and noted the place was an armory. Weapons and armor were all over the place, hanging on the walls and littering the floor. She recognized the design and style were the same as what the undead were equipped with. Maybe some of them even fought inside the building when alive, but that was a long time ago—a _very_ long time ago. There was a similar structure in the town she moved to after betraying True Light, an arena where guards trained as plays and sports games went on at other times for entertainment. According to its history, the arena was used for training demonic soldiers in the Devil's army during the war. Perhaps this coliseum was once used for the same purpose back then, however far back in this city's enigmatically unknown past that was.

Slowly the light grew brighter as she approached another door to her right, and it was here she realized this must've been the entrance into the center stage, the pit where trained combatants duked it out against fellow fighters to risk anything important to them, notably their lives. Although Grora hadn't expected to find Ater there of all places, there she was standing in the arena. For once in quite a while she did a double take, not pausing the first time until she nearly stumbled upon her own feet when doubling back for a second look. At first she thought it must've been an illusion on her part, a hallucination of some kind from her brain wanting her to fight and kill Ater. It was right on the money in her mind because that was what she expected from herself, but no, it was no myth. Ater was indeed standing directly in the arena, and the white haired cat demon looked right at her.

"M-miss Grora…" the poor girl sniffed, holding her trident in one hand with the tips up. It was an unexpected sight, really, seeing her with the weapon drawn as if she wanted to fight her.

"Ater…you little shit," Grora growled and stormed into the clearing, stopping just halfway across from the nervous kitty. Her scimitars were drawn and she thought about shoving them into her hated enemy, though the angel resisted the decision to outright kill her here and now when the other cat demon wasn't present. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she narrowed her eye out of anger and glared at the girl across from her. Struggling with the urge to slaughter her, Grora chose to sheathe her weapons for now and hoped she could continue to mentally resist the idea of taking those things out in one quick motion to cut Ater down. "How dare you…you betrayed our world." Ater didn't say anything, starting to cry since she felt so guilty about how true Grora's accusation was. The poor girl gripped her trident tighter and began to breathe heavier than she was already, a powerful wave of chills traveling down her spine which made her shiver uncontrollably in fright.

"Do you have any idea what would've happened because of what you've done?!" the angel raised her voice, temporarily forgetting that she was supposed to avoid trouble with the corpses in this place. "You turned your back on our world and tried to help a God invade from the same world Ivlis came from, no less! Your treasonous actions would've cost us our lives and the civilians were in danger too because of you! You've endangered our world by attempting to let another invasion threaten our peaceful way of life! Do you have anything at all to say for yourself, you little bitch?!"

"M-miss Grora…" Ater repeated the first response she made, swallowing heavily after she mentioned the angel's name. Evidently she was struggling to find the right words to express what she felt right now. Grora could see the girl was struggling with her own damn problems, noting an intensity of heightened emotions coursing through her from reading her body language. She noted how terrified Ater was and how she was also guilty and anxious with what was happening around her. The cat demon tightened her grip on the trident to try and hold it better, but a shaky grasp was no good since it had to be firm and free of doubts. Grora knew that much about combat with some emphasis on proper focus better than Ater ever did, but even she had to admit her own anger would have made her shake with rage and deliver unclear strikes with her own weapons. "I-I'm s-sorry…"

"Sorry's not good enough after what you did!" Grora yelled at her, wondering where Arbus was so the black haired kitty could try and talk sense into her sister when she caught sight of a lone figure sitting up in the podium near their position. Turning her head to face that part of the coliseum in the hope of finding Ater there, the angel was somewhat surprised to find an undead being sitting in what looked like a throne with one leg across the other and her hands folded together. What was weird about her was that the left side of her face was completely humanoid and the right side was undead. Decked in leather chainmail armor, this strange young lady with a long ponytail hairstyle and a blue iris in her left eye observed the proceedings of their conversation with a strict sense of what Grora might've called an analysis. Resting on her lap was a blade, an unfamiliar construct to the angel since she could only make out part of it until the girl held it up to slide one hand along a side of it. The sword was a scimitar like the two blades she wielded as well. "And just who the hell are you, huh?!" she demanded an answer from the undead girl seated within the podium, pondering what her plans were in this whole affair. Was she a lich in control of the undead? That made sense, though liches in the Gray Garden were fully undead and had no intellect aside from their control over other undead beings. She definitely felt demonic, but who exactly was this lich demon?

Lowering her blade and opening her eye after shutting it, she pointed it at them. "Begin."

Grora scowled, wondering what this girl wanted when she turned her head back to Ater to find the cat demon lowering her trident and pointing it right at her. She did not like the unexpected turn of events. She was fine and dandy with hurting Ater, though on her own terms instead of this weird undead girl's demand. Looking at the kitty, the angel observed her struggle with the choice. Ater obviously didn't want to fight her, yet was compelled by some kind of hold over her. Although Grora couldn't rule out the fact it might've had to do with her parents, she also thought this undead individual watching the conflict begin placed Ater under some kind of mind control powers. Even if the cat demon was fully aware of her actions, those actions probably weren't under her influence as the lich-like demon was most likely pulling the strings. The only question was how she managed to secure a firm hold over Ater's body even if she couldn't control her mind. Pondering on several possibilities one at a time, Grora wondered if their observer allowed Ater to remain cognizant even as she and the angel fought against one another in a one on one duel like in this present situation.

The poor girl sniffed, tears of somber fright pouring down her cheeks as she hesitantly took a few steps towards Grora. "I-I'm s-sorry, M-miss Grora…" she apologized again, swallowing any lumps in her throat a couple times because she was so frightened of what she was doing. Her rather timid approach coupled with the fearfully sad expression on her face only made the angel sigh and unstrap her scimitars from the belt. Tossing them aside before drawing the bow and quiver to cast those off as well, the lich demon raised her eyebrow as she watched Grora then crack her knuckles before getting into a defensive martial artist's stance. Both hands remained perfectly flat, the right arm held back with the palm facing down while the left arm was out. Her left hand was up, facing towards Ater since the angelic lady was prepared to deliver that firm beating Arbus promised her. It was unfortunate the other cat demon wasn't here to stop her sister, though it felt like Grora didn't have much of a choice if Ater was being forced to fight. That was fine with her since she'd disarm the white haired cat girl and then begin deliver blows with her fists to put a serious dent into Ater.

She merely stood by and watched as Ater, trident still aiming for her, reluctantly took time to make a hesitant approach from Grora's right before attempting to poke the weapon at her. While it wasn't a powerful thrust, the attack was slow enough for Grora to sidestep it and quickly snatch the trident. Holding her end with a firm grip while Ater still held onto hers, the angel heaved it up in the air to send the poor cat demon over her head with such force that she smashed the girl's head into the ground. Ater's own grip was still pretty weak, yet she somehow managed to maintain it as her angelic opponent, who would've once reluctantly called her a comrade even though they were still mortal enemies in Grora's eye, raised her end again to swing Ater into a pillar. Crashing Ater's back into the object, she took advantage of the kitty's weakened hold to pull the weapon from her once the cat demon staggered to her feet. Thrown off balance, Ater stumbled forward while Grora lowered the trident to hold the end with those three spikes on it. She couldn't pierce the poor girl's body with it, but at least the hilt was used as a blunt weapon to deliver a serious blow to the kitty's right cheek that sent Ater careening to the side. It made her cough up a bit of blood, hence why the angel decided to relinquish the trident by throwing it away as well. Using it would've been fatal.

Yet she aimed at the lich demon before throwing it like a spear at her; the strike was on target, but Ater's trident did nothing because it unfortunately stopped in midair a centimeter away from the observer's face. Merely shutting her eye, the trident was simply cast aside like garbage.

Grora breathed deeply to recover some energy she exerted in the opening segment she and Ater entered during their fight against each other. Keeping her eye on the lich demon, she held her arms out at her sides and raised her voice to shout at said lich demon. "Are you not entertained?!" Receiving no answer, the angelic woman merely growled in anger and stormed over to the weapons she cast aside and picked up the two scimitars. "Are you not entertained?!" she yelled again, letting Ater take a few moments to recover from the blows dealt to her so far. Throwing the scimitars too, she watched the lich demon merely cast those aside as well with the same method utilized against the trident. Going over to the bow next, Grora snatched it up with one hand and pulled three arrows from the quiver, nocking them in the string and shooting them at their undead observer. Those too were also discarded, not even reaching their mark in time before the same spell of sorts was used. "Is this what you want?!" Grora demanded, shooting more arrows at her until the quiver was then thrown away by force, leaving only the bow which Grora threw at her too as a last resort. "I'd bet you planned this with that damned cannibal of yours! Like hell I'd satisfy you assholes with this!"

"I am not your opponent," the lich demon stated authoritatively, assuming dominance over the situation by way of a declarative statement tinged with an imposing sense of control over Ater's fight with the angel. Sitting in that throne must've made her feel like a queen or another ruler, the power over how this conflict played out probably going to her head. Yet she showed no signs that she was enjoying the battle, merely regulating how she felt by maintaining a calm, collected head. "It matters not to me how you handle the present situation you find yourself in, though do see your role fulfilled with this endeavor so that I might live up to my end." Her eye flitted closed and she'd only raised one hand when Ater was back up and sort of ready to keep duking it out. "Carry on."

"Tch." Grora gritted her teeth, growling in anger while turning her attention back to the cat demon whom she couldn't help but feel sorry for even if she still planned on following through on her deal with Arbus. That was partly a motivation for fighting the girl's sister, another reason being because she wanted to personally punish Ater for her betrayal of their world. She wouldn't relent in her beating of Ater, regardless of whether the poor girl was used or not and regardless of the condition Ater was in. After a few harsh blows like the ones Grora dealt so far—and they were few in number; only three attacks so far—it was already beginning to seem like the cat demon had already lost. The white haired kitty was hardly in any condition to fight off her attacker, let alone escape because her wobbling legs might've buckled at any time. Yet Ater continued in spite of the improper state she was in for fighting, refusing to back down even if she had the choice to.

Breathing heavily since she was already out of breath and probably on the verge of a heart attack, the cat demon gradually advanced towards her opponent very slowly with her arms up since she could only use her hands and feet to fight now that no more weapons were available. She took some unsteady steps closer to Grora and shut her eyes, mewing in terror as she attempted to weakly bat the angel with a rather light punch to the cheek. Unfortunately for her, her opponent was faster than her and had already seized the arm before pulling hard on it after stepping behind the kitty. It was quite an excruciating attack, forcing Ater's eyes open as she squealed in pain because of how intense the pressure Grora applied felt. The angel let her shriek for a few moments more prior to a quick palm thrust into the cat demon's back to force her into the air. Quickly stepping back so she could place her free hand onto Ater's torso, Grora slammed the poor girl onto the stone ground as she wanted her down for the count. Standing up straight and cracking her knuckles, the angel only closed her eye and sighed, taking a deep breath as she prepared herself for the additional blows to deal. Opening her eye, she gazed down at Ater's injured form and glared at the cat demon. Having been reduced to a sobbing, whimpering mess, Ater could only weep as she watched the angel tower over her in a threatening posture. "You've had this coming for a long time, Ater," Grora mused, taking pleasure in savoring the opportunity even without smiling, "and I'm going to enjoy it." With that said, she brought her heel onto Ater's stomach to cause pain and got on top of the cat demon to begin delivering a series of strong, painful punches to the poor girl's face.

…

She had seen every punch Grora dealt to Ater up to that point and it hurt her too as she felt so helpless to prevent the angel from going all out against her even if she hadn't used any weapons. At least not that Arbus could see, for she had only just discovered a hole in the back wall a minute ago and stealthily rushed to the sound of combat from the center. She'd heard it while still outside, and emerged in the seats where an audience would've been because she had to ascend a hill to get inside. After sneaking past an undead guard patrolling the hallway she had found herself in, Arbus then crept to the podium where she also glimpsed the lich demon observing the fight. By the time she got here, her twin sister was already on the ground being pummeled in the face by Grora with said lich demon sitting on that damn throne of hers doing absolutely nothing. It angered the black haired cat demon since she felt that strange girl had a hand in all this and placed Ater under some kind of spell to control her. Then again, maybe Grora was the one under the spell to be controlled.

It hadn't mattered which of them was being controlled, but Arbus felt she had to slaughter that lich demon since she believed doing so could've potentially relinquished her hold over one of the girls—whichever one whose strings she pulled. Silently vaulting over row after row while she slunk past them, the cat demon climbed up into the podium without making any noise so as not to attract unwanted attention. Immediately hiding behind a short pile of debris, she held the trident at her chest and waited for an opportunity to sneak closer and pierce the semi-undead girl in the chest to obliterate whatever was left of her heart—that, or skewer her in the face; whichever one worked. Yet she was suddenly stopped by the sound of footsteps hurrying through a corridor nearby before a lone figure emerged from a side door carrying a platter of limbs, blood, and inner organs she had collected from her killing spree throughout the city. Arbus was lucky to be hidden as the girl was none other than Soa, and thankfully she hadn't looked behind the debris to her right.

The doppelganger's arrival garnered a glance from the lich demon who saw her enter with the grisly remains of the poor sun angels who had all died. Her nose twitched since she could smell the carnage on Soa's person as evident in the blood tainting Soa's black dress and pink hair. "You came," the lich demon uttered nonchalantly and stood up to welcome the doppelganger's presence. "Have you and our people finished dealing with the rest of those angels?" she then inquired while pointing to their remains which rested on the platter. "Seems like you've prepared a mouthful."

Soa shut her eyes and grinned happily. _"You bet, big sis! We took care of those guys lickity split, just in time for dinner with a show!"_ She held the tray out to present the so-called dinner. _"It smells so good, big sis! You simply have to share it with me! There's enough for both of us!"_

Peering out from her hiding spot, Arbus caught the lich demon smile and reply. "Certainly, come right over. I've been supervising the fight so far, though you're welcome to watch the rest."

" _Wait, you started without me, big sis?"_ Soa sounded slightly disappointed.

"My apologies. I can allow it to go on for an extended period if you wish, but I'll intervene only when it appears she's on the verge of death," the doppelganger's big sister remarked which surprised Arbus slightly because she realized it was an allusion to Ater. Yet the idea of an extension pleased Soa, brightening the doppelganger's spirits since she could enjoy dinner with that show.

" _Wonderful!"_ she cheered happily and started to jog forward with the tray of towering gore on top. _"You're such an adorable crow, big sis! I love you so—"_ Her remark went unfinished since it was replaced by a sudden, startled cry when Soa tripped over a stone brick that had been jutting out from the floor. Losing her balance, Soa fell forward into the lich demon and accidently dropped the platter sending the gory pieces all over each other and the floor. Her adorable crow was also startled by the sudden accident and lost her balance too upon tripping over her cloak while slipping on a few organs. The two girls shrieked as they fell onto the throne, sprawling over the side while covered in a gory mess. With a grown, Soa lifted her head up to look at the mess and whimpered sadly. _"Oh, I'm so sorry, big sis. I've ruined dinner for us,"_ she whined, upset over spilled gore.

Her eye wide open as she stared at the doppelganger, the lich demon then smiled while she shut it, pulling a liver off the other girl's shoulder to give it a nibble. "It still tastes good, Soa," she remarked to please her and casually ate the rest. The fact she was happy only made Soa happy too.

" _Yay, dinner's still on the table!"_ she cheered, helping her big sister clean themselves up just as Arbus finally decided it was time to emerge from her hiding place. A determined scowl was present on her face as the cat demon tiptoed towards the throne with her trident at the ready. She'd been told that weapons were useless against Soa and had even seen the sun angels' weapons break against her tendrils, but that didn't stop her from trying, especially since the lich demon might not have had the same invincible invulnerability Raspbel's doppelganger evidently had. Approaching their position and waiting behind it for a few moments, Arbus prepared herself to strike them down without a moment's hesitation before leaping out and silently thrusting her trident down. Had that attack been effective, it would've gone through them both. Yet it didn't because it stopped all of a sudden when an unseen force stopped her. Soa displayed a cheshire grin, turning her head to speak with their expected intruder. _"My, my, what a surprise! If it isn't Arbus of all individuals present!"_

"W-wha—" Arbus piped up, surprised she'd been caught when a tendril from Soa slammed into her side, sending the unfortunate cat demon flying out of the podium and into the center stage.

"Huh, what just happened?" Grora asked, her attention caught by a sudden eruption of dust after the black haired kitty careened into a nearby wall behind her. Turning her head to see who'd been knocked into it, her eye widened in surprise slightly before narrowing in anger. "Arbus?! The hell did you do, girl?! Where the hell were you?! I thought you were going to talk sense into her!"

Groaning in pain and rubbing the back of her head to feel if it split open, Arbus felt relieved since it wasn't and looked up to address her angelic comrade. "Miss Grora! What have you done?! Why'd you have to keep beating my sister?!" she asked, forgetting her theory of mind control.

"Why the hell do you think I'm beating the shit out of her?! She obviously needs common sense knocked into her brain!" the angel hissed the retort at her to rebuke the cat demon's demand and went right back to punching Ater into the ground until Arbus shoved her aside to kneel by her sister. "Where the hell were you?! You promised me you'd try and talk her out of this before she'd get a chance to draw her weapon at me!" she added, casting the accusation and blame onto Arbus.

"I was trying to find a way in and thought either one of you were under her control!" Arbus barked angrily and pointed at the lich demon still enjoying what was left of the dinner and show.

"Well, it obviously isn't me, you dolt! It's got to be this little shit right here!"

"Oh, Ater, oh my god, Ater…" the black haired cat demon murmured, gently cradling Ater in her arms as she examined the other girl for any bruises and serious wounds. She could obviously see the black eyes and swollen bruises all over her twin's face from where the angelic woman was punching her, and she could also hear the volume of Ater's painful whimpering intensify whenever she felt the top of her head and the right cheek, Ater's backside, and the poor girl's left arm. Tears formed in Arbus' eyes as she gazed upon the crippled form of her twin sister, sniffing heavily since she believed Ater was quite literally on the verge of death. "It'll be alright, sis, everything's fine," she tried to keep herself from choking out anguished sobs. "I'm here, I'll help make it all better."

" _Hello, ladies!"_ Soa exclaimed in amusement, cupping her hands over her mouth as a way of increasing the sound of her voice so they could hear her. _"Less talking, more beating!"_ Roaring with intense, maniacal laughter, the doppelganger purposely fell back in the throne she now shared with the lich demon since it was big enough to hold both of them. Throwing an arm around her as she laughed while enjoying their show, Soa shoved her face into a pile of organs she set on her lap and immediately inhaled without chewing. Her rather cannibalistically gluttonous appetite for live flesh and organs couldn't be satiated it seemed, and apparently she survived without even choking.

"I believe that will be enough for now," her adorable crow remarked and gently removed the arm from around her shoulder, eating the grotesque remains in a more refined manner to show she possessed better table manners than the doppelganger she lovingly accepted as an adopted little sister. "That one's looks to have had enough of this, especially as the third party's here. I'm terribly sorry, Soa, but I'm afraid our show will have to be cut short so soon after your arrival."

" _Aww, alright,"_ Soa pouted somewhat until that cheshire grin spread across her face again. _"Promise you'll make it up to me later, big sis?"_ she asked and made puppy dog eyes.

The lich demon merely smiled at her and shut her eye. "But of course." Standing up so she could step over to the railing, she vaulted over it and landed gracefully in the arena before ambling over to the trio with Soa in tow since her younger sister joined her with Grora's weapons in hand. "Now then, as you've upheld your end of the deal, I shall uphold mine." Sheathing her scimitar at her side, she then held her hands out and motioned for the cat demons to approach her when Grora suddenly got in their way after picking up the scimitars Raspbel's doppelganger tossed by her.

"Whoa, hold up, just who the hell do you think you are getting involved in all this?!" Grora demanded and pointed her weapons at Soa and her older sister. She breathed deeply as she started to wonder when they attracted the former's attention. "You'd better explain yourselves right now!"

"My apologies, for I cannot satisfy your curiosity at this time," the lich demon commented, the answer not satisfactory to the angel since Grora only growled. "I must tend to our bargain."

"Bargain, what damn bargain?!" Grora demanded an explanation as she started to think on the choice of words this strange girl used when directly referring to deals and bargains. At first she thought this stranger was working with Siralos, and that could've been possible from what she had heard about him. Yet if she and Soa weren't acquainted with the Sun God, or were even supporting him from an indirect standpoint for that matter, that meant Ater must've made a bargain with them. Yet that hardly made much sense as the cat demon betrayed them to Siralos. If they were referring to a deal, surely they must've been alluding to a possible bargain Ater made with Siralos instead.

" _Hey, you're not a party to this deal,"_ Soa commented briefly and shrugged while shaking her head. _"Then again, I suppose you technically are even if you were unnamed. However, you're still nowhere within her term."_ That brief explanation was vague and—this was Soa saying it—an unwelcome description from her. Grora wasn't even addressing her in spite of wondering why she wasn't attacking them now just as she had done during the Doppelganger Murders. That reference to an individual meant it could've only been two people who made it. Soa obviously made it clear the individual in question was a female, so it definitely wasn't Siralos as he was a male deity. That just left the two demons: the lich and the cat. Both of them were viable options, yet Grora actually doubted it could've been Ater when the white haired cat demon herself struggled to stand up amid her sister's protests against it. Apparently she must've known what was going on better than Grora and even her own sister, for both were left befuddled in their own way when she tried to speak up.

"A-Ater?! W-wait, don't stand! P-please, just lie down and I'll take care of you!" However, Arbus' plea went unanswered since her sister didn't respond to her, eventually finding her voice.

"T-t-thank you…M-miss…" Ater stuttered, breathing heavily as she did her best going up to the lich demon to try and kneel in front of her. "P-p-please…t-t-tell us…" Weakly averting her attention back to Arbus, she raised a shaky hand to beckon her sister over. "A-Arbus…c-come…"

"What are you talking about?! We've got to get you home!" the black haired kitty shouted in a panicked voice and rushed over to forcefully drag her sister away from the foes standing before them. Although she had Ater's best interests at heart even if she had to use discipline at times, the poor girl didn't seem to want that kind of care now since she started a futile struggle against her.

"N-no!" Ater cried out, resorting to biting Arbus' arm which made her sister cry out in pain and release the poor cat demon from her grasp. "A-Arbus, p-p-please…w-we have to…hear it…"

"Hear what?!" Grora demanded, confused as to what was going when Soa suddenly rushed right at her and pinned the angel to the ground, keeping her from moving so she wouldn't interject.

 _"Tsk, tsk, tsk…"_ the doppelganger chided her mockingly. _"What did I say, Grora?"_

"Get away from them, Ater!" Arbus attempted to tightly grasp her struggling twin again, a little easier now that her arms weren't close to her mouth. It was her sister's legs she needed to be concerned with because Ater was trying to kick her off balance. Thankfully Arbus stood her ground and maintained her footing even while averting her attention to the lich demon. "You stay away!"

"I shall not repeat myself further, save for this one final time with additional clarification," Soa's older sister stated declaratively, making eye contact with the black haired cat demon. "After all, you have been a named party to the arrangement, hence why you and your sister alone can ask questions pertaining to the deal because the two of you were named by her when we established it not too long ago." Her explanation was also somewhat inexplicit like Soa's, though with a bit more added to it. The additional detail of Ater having been the one to propose it caught Arbus off guard, and the surprised cat demon fought a mental battle with herself to not doubt her twin sister. While she still wanted to believe in Ater's integrity, the black haired twin couldn't help but wonder why she was allowed to inquire about it when Grora's demands for answers weren't met by them.

"What are you talking about?! What deal?! Ater would never work with you, understand?!"

"A-Arbus…" Ater successfully raised her voice, probably having recovered its strength. It was still a faint cry nonetheless, though she accomplished the feat of making her voice heard.

"N-no, it's not true, Ater! I won't believe a word they say!" Arbus continued to fight back against what might've been the undeniable truth. "They're lying! I know you'd never work with a monster like her and that sick cannibal who brutally killed all those people months ago!"

 _"Hey, I'm perfectly normal and well, thank you very much!"_ Soa retorted, taking offense. _"But yes, I did do that!"_ she also added with a smile, taking pride in the endeavor until a look from the lich demon quieted her even if it didn't stop her from smiling in satisfaction at expressing pride.

"Allow me to elaborate," the lich demon spoke up to address Arbus, looking right at her as she began a short explanation of why they were talking about a deal. "Some time not too long ago, our Lord sensed the cries of a deal to be struck with your sister. She put forth her proposition with a request to hear about the missing parental figures in your lives. In exchange, our Lord requested through me that she was to fight the one she feared most and lose to her on purpose. As she did so, thereby fulfilling the term she received from us, we are now obligated to fulfill her wish."

Arbus looked shocked, having difficulty registering what this strange young lady told her. "A-Ater…asked you…for what?" she gasped, starting to shiver slightly and it wasn't because she was afraid of the lich demon and her psychotic companion. Rather than fear, a deep sense of anger began to course through her veins not because of Ater's request since that was understandable, but because the white haired cat demon never once told her about it. "S-she demanded that from you?" The lich demon nodded affirmatively, leading to another question. "Naming me as a party to it?"

"Yes."

"A-Arbus…p-please…" Ater begged her sister for support, pleading with her to accept the deal. "I-I'm s-sorry…I-I d-didn't t-tell you…b-but p-please…we must hear t-this…Arbus…"

Rage continued to build up in Arbus, and her response was an enraged denial. "No."

"B-but A-Arbus…"

"No buts, Ater! I will not have my own sister involving me in this stuff behind my back! I will not follow you around on some damn search driven by nothing but false leads you dig up!"

"A-Arbus…!"

"No, I refuse to go down this stupid rabbit hole with you to find nobody there because this is all going to be a lie these conniving monsters crafted to lure you into their clutches! I shan't just let you throw anything and everything away all for the sake of finding people we never met! They are responsible for the Doppelganger Murders, you know that as well as I do, Ater! They're lying!"

"B-but Arbus…!"

"I don't give a shit whether you say we have to try! They're monsters; ergo, we distrust the two of them! Have you been listening to me?! They caused the Doppelganger Murders, Ater!"

"ARBUS!" This time it was Ater who screamed in anger, even if her voice was hoarse.

"Forget it!" Arbus screamed and whirled her twin around to face her. "This deal is over!"

"You do not wish to be a part of the bargain?" the lich demon asked in a rhetorical tone of voice to break up the argument by interjecting. "If that is your wish, so be it. Bear in mind, though, that doing so will automatically nullify the deal because one party is unwilling to follow through." She looked decisively at the bickering cat demons. "I'll not ask again: Ater and Arbus of Skrevera, will you both, or will you both not whether it's either one of you, accept the deal, thereby fulfilling it as Ater of Skrevera established with us? This will be your final chance to inquire into the untold fates of your absent parental figures, otherwise the deal will be nullified and her term forfeit."

"N-no!" Ater shrieked, still struggling in her sister's grasp. "A-Arbus, p-p-please, n-no!"

"Hell no, I'm not partaking in a deal I wasn't informed of, especially one made with them!"

"Then the choice has been made," the lich demon declared and began to levitate in midair. Soa immediately got off Grora who had been silently watching the fight break out between the cat demons, somewhat caught off guard to an extent because she never saw them fight this bad. While Raspbel's doppelganger floated up to join and embrace her in a hug, the mysterious girl continued to speak and horrify Ater with the dissolution of their bargain. "Henceforth, this deal is dissolved. The three of you may return to the surface unharmed, the undead shall not impede your progress."

 _"We've got business elsewhere, so goodbye for now, ladies!"_ Soa giggled, waving to them. _"Don't forget to say hi to Raspbel for me!"_ she added, though nobody would fulfill that request.

Frightened that they were leaving without even bothering to at least give her the truth she'd been seeking from them, Ater suddenly found an inner strength in spite of the damage she accrued and burst out of her sister's tight embrace. "N-no!" she cried out, stumbling forward and falling to her knees with an arm outstretched towards the only ones who provided a lead on their parents. "I d-don't want you to go! P-please tell me! I-I'm begging you, please! P-please come back! I-I have done what I could, I-I fulfilled my role just as you asked of me! P-please, d-don't go!" Despite the fact she was still pleading, Ater felt helpless as they watched Soa and the lich demon disappear within a swirl of darkness that suddenly appeared from out of thin air. "N-no, t-tell me, p-please!" Once they vanished, the poor girl broke down and wailed loudly, saddened due to having put all that psychologically strenuous effort into a deal that went unfulfilled. She put her crippled body in a fetal position as Grora looked at Arbus' angry visage when she walked up beside the cat demon.

"So…that's that, I guess," she murmured absentmindedly, wondering if it was worth it.

…

 **A rather lackluster boss fight if I do say so myself, but Ater was supposed to lose this fight on purpose as that was part of her deal. She won't handle this dejection of it too well as this is another crucial impact on the relations between her, Arbus, and Grora.**

 **The part where that sun angel's corpse was taken into the hole was inspired by a part from the sewers in Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth. Grora's bit of dialogue about asking the lich demon if she wasn't entertained is from a part in Ridley Scott's Gladiator.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Gladiator; it is owned by Ridley Scott. I do not own Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth; it is owned by Headfirst Productions.**


	14. Chapter Fourteen: Twins Divided

The next morning was a slow one for everybody in the castle and Gray Village as all of the people were only just resting up from the recent threat of an invasion. It wouldn't come to pass for what they hoped to be a long time—forever for those who were optimistic. The citizens were quite alright and could get back to their lives as normal since their world's safety had been assured. They had no trouble readjusting to this facet because they'd only kept their guard up while contributing to the town's defenses. However, the authorities and other employees in the castle took a bit longer to cool down so they could rest their heels, hence why a couple days off was allowed to allow them the opportunity to get some well-deserved rest. They earned it after all, and it was only natural that they'd take this chance prior to returning to their usual affairs and daily routines.

Strolling through a corridor to an elevator, Grora sighed in relief as she was thankful they had quelled Siralos' attack without too much trouble. She and Arbus took out a small group of his angels in that cave, mainly a fraction of it due to the rest of the force presumably having fallen to the undead within the buried city. Resting her hands behind her head, Grora replayed the events of yesterday into last night within her mind to recall what happened. She had a report to file directly with Kcalb and Etihw about that and was already going to their office to talk with them about that while offering a recommendation on how to punish Ater for her betrayal against the Gray Garden.

When the white haired cat demon opened those two portals within the castle, it was starting to look like the invasion would've most likely destroyed them all because the full force of Siralos' army would've likely come through those portals. They probably would've shown up had the Devil and Goddess not sealed off their entrance to this world and abolished the extension of more which would've become a significant problem. Luckily they completely sealed off every portal, and they were also glad Ater didn't have the opportunity to produce more from that scroll the squads found in that basecamp the Sun God's strike force established while they captured Lenny as he fled. That success was a great achievement on their part because hopefully they'd get information from him. More so was the accomplishment of stopping the invasion altogether as a grand victory.

Yet everything wasn't positive, at least mostly for Ater due to her betrayal. The cat demon fled into the second portal after she was discovered as the traitor, though she seemed to have been caught in a minor skirmish with the sun angels because they attempted to execute her. Afterwards she fled from them and apparently entered that strange city where Grora and Arbus found her. Yet they had also discovered Soa was there as well with that peculiar lich demon she accompanied. A strange pair, those two, especially since they struck a bargain with Ater just as she had done when turning the Gray Garden's fate over to Siralos—that latter bit was implied by the scroll she had. It was an odd deal, forcing her to fight the one she feared only to lose on purpose all due to Ater and her incessant desire to hear about the absent parental figures she and Arbus shared. That was quite a harsh blow to her when her sister rejected the deal altogether before Soa and the lich demon left.

Following their departure, Grora and Arbus were faced with the task of dragging a weeping Ater back to Blancblack Castle. The poor girl wouldn't shut up along the way as they crossed into the lower levels of that city towards the door. Her cries only infuriated her twin sister and the angel since both of them didn't want to hear her complaints. Surprisingly enough, the lich demon's vow that the undead wouldn't bother them was actually true. Ater's crying drew a patrol of them over, though they weren't hostile to the trio. That first squad was courteous enough to escort them out.

While Grora still questioned why they—and Soa of all people—refused to attack them, the matter didn't bother Arbus so much because of what her sister had done. Ater went behind Arbus' back when making that deal, having never told anybody about it. She kept it secret from everyone. That was what angered the black haired cat demon, especially because Ater did it to find out about their parents while involving her twin sister in the affair even when Arbus refused to comply with it. They were split over the subject of their parents, with Ater wanting them and Arbus wanting to be happy. She wanted Ater to be happy too, but realized strict discipline would need to be enforced if she was to satisfy her twin by teaching her the value of happiness. Arbus truly cared about Ater's wellbeing, and she didn't want her twin sister to be miserable by discovering a dark truth or a lie.

Although Grora felt sorry for Ater and Arbus, she nonetheless refused to capitulate to such feelings because she still didn't like them. She still bore her grudge against Ater for taking her eye even if it was an accident, and the angelic lady wasn't going to ever surrender that at all. She would only when the white haired kitty—and maybe Arbus too for that matter—was lying in a grave out in the cold. A grim notion, one she was hoping would come true soon so she wouldn't have to deal with those girls anymore. They were both nuisances, annoyances that should've been cast aside.

Having ridden the elevator all the way to the top floor while pondering on all of this, Grora emerged at her destination and strode up the stairs towards the double doors. Opening one to walk inside, she caught sight of the Head Angel with his older brother in there. Etihw herself was absent, probably out conversing with the employees and guards to inquire as to how they were feeling. An all too familiar idea was that she also used that time off from her own work to get away and be the lazy slouch she was known for being. The angelic lady felt she should've been here to hear this as the situation was critical and required her attention too. "I've arrived," she declared her presence.

"Ah, Grora, good that you came," the Devil remarked once he finished a conversation with Wodahs as they both turned to hear her report of the events that took place the following day while following up well into the night itself. "From the looks of it, I trust you're doing well, right?"

"Pretty much, though I'd rather not beat around the bush now," Grora responded. "Where's Lady Etihw? Shouldn't she be here too? She should also be kept updated on the mission."

"Lady Etihw is currently trying to garner details from Ater while trying to mend problems between her and Arbus," the Head Angel explained briefly. "They have not gotten along ever since Ater was recovered last night, and neither are on speaking terms." Grora frowned when he finished answering her inquiry, reminded of the conflict between Raspbel and Rawberry months ago. They hadn't spoken to one another either, albeit for a very different reason than this current sibling feud.

"Anyway," Kcalb commented, folding his hands together on his desk after he motioned for her to take a seat. "Let's get down to the bottom line as you've requested. From what I know about your mission with Arbus so far after Wodahs informed me of the situation, you've discovered Ater was about to be executed and got away from the sun angels by escaping into an underground city. The two of you followed her trail down there and encountered Soa's presence while rescuing Ater."

"You've got the gist of it, yeah, though I wouldn't exactly call it 'saving' her; it was more like a petty fight erupted between that little bitch and I," Grora elaborated briefly for the Devil.

"Let's avoid getting ahead of ourselves, shall we?" Wodahs spoke to keep their subordinate from going on a tangent about how she hated Ater and also so they could start at the beginning. "It would make more sense if you'd relay what happened after you contacted me before entering that place. What did you discover in there with Arbus, Grora? Is the threat of undead bad like Siralos?"

"Bad enough that there's probably thousands down there," the angelic woman remarked to answer his latter question first, though shrugged since she was about to go off from the point when she stepped through the monolithic door. "We encountered no resistance at first, finding cadavers of sun angels within—one even whizzed past us when scaling a tower for a better vantage point. I saw Siralos' troops fighting a horde of undead that outnumbered them and were winning, which I pointed Arbus to. That was also when we saw Soa heading towards their remaining soldiers who've survived up until she slaughtered them. I'm assuming they're all dead considering how badly they fared." Taking a deep breath, she paused here so the Devil and Head Angel could comprehend her account so far, letting them ask questions if need be such as one Kcalb posed to her about that.

"Are you positively sure they've perished at her hands? Wod and I still have to interrogate Lenny on Siralos' plans and inquire about the fate of their ill-fated expedition into that odd city."

"I saw her approaching them before blowing open the door to a cathedral they hid inside," Grora commented to clarify that matter further. "Their weapons and magic were useless from what I've seen, and I'm willing to bet they couldn't escape because the undead and Soa blocked them."

"I see," the Devil murmured, raising a bent finger to his chin and motioned for her to keep the account going. "Continue, if you'll please, Grora. What happened after you saw them?"

"We saw Ater enter a coliseum while following some weird lich demon whom we couldn't make out from where we were. Undead were there too, but they didn't attack them—I don't know why, so I'm afraid I can't answer that," Grora went on, stretching her arms behind her head. "The bottom line is that we snuck over there and split up to look for separate ways into that building as it was guarded by undead. I found Ater in the arena with the lich demon overlooking the area. She apparently made Ater fight me, and I won easily since the little shit didn't even try to fight back."

"Why is that?" Wodahs asked.

"From what I could understand following the conflict when Arbus rejoined us was that she made a deal with the lich demon behind everyone's backs. Ater never told anyone about it, which also shows she's a treasonous bitch who turned her back on our world, I should add." A grunt from Kcalb indicated she was to focus only on explaining what had happened, not insult Ater. Shrugging her shoulders while complying with the order, the angelic lady just kept talking. "That's not what's strange about this deal, it seems. For whatever reason—aside from telling the kitties about the two missing parental figures—that odd lich demon wanted Ater to fight someone she feared most while losing on purpose. I suspect she referred to me when she was explaining that to them, considering how Ater fought me and held back on purpose. At first I thought it was mind control or something, at least as far as control over her body was concerned since Ater was cognizant of our conflict."

"Wait, this lich demon knew about their parents?" Kcalb inquired, somewhat surprised that somebody they were vaguely familiar with was aware of the issue Ater and Arbus experienced.

"Yep, she did and said her 'Lord' sent her to deliver the term and make the deal with her," Grora elaborated further with a brief allusion to what else was brought up in that conversation the other night. "I don't know how they knew about it, so don't ask me why; but get this guys," Grora held her arms out slightly towards them with both index fingers jutting up. "Soa was with her too, and that doppelganger was surprisingly tame around us. Sure, she may have hurt us a bit, yet Soa's attacks only caused minor bruises and all as far as I know. She knew exactly what that lich demon talked about, and listened without questioning her from what I've seen. She even gave my weapons back when I had thrown them at the lich demon so I wouldn't have to use them against Ater."

"That is odd," Kcalb remarked to concur with her statement, opening his laptop so the sleep mode could be deactivated after he pressed the power button on it. "Though we may have already heard about this peculiar lich demon before from Soa herself, even if the individual herself wasn't mentioned directly. You do recall when Soa invaded Macarona's house before kidnapping her and Rawberry, right?" he inquired, remembering that she was gravely injured by the doppelganger.

"Hell yeah, I do. How could I ever forget what she did back then?"

Opening a program on his laptop and waiting for it to load, the Devil looked back at her as he continued to make his point known. "When Soa made her move there, she mentioned somebody she referred to as an adorable crow, a probable nickname of sorts according to Eti. Macarona also elaborated on that in her own testimony about what Soa said to Raspbel in Moreisineum, claiming that the doppelganger called this adorable crow of hers her older sister. Granted, the lich demon's the only individual other than Soa who you encountered, so it may be a different person. However, there's also the matter of Soa's master, whom Macarona also spoke of when she told us about what happened down there." Turning the laptop so Grora could see the picture on it, he let her observe the six headed statue for a few seconds before he spoke up again. "Macarona said Soa referred to this thing as her master and prostrated before it. I think the lich demon and Soa both serve the same being, therefore linking the two of them together. It's definitely a possible theory to consider."

Silently musing on whether the connection was strong or not, the angelic woman shrugged and stood up straight after having bent over to better look at the creature covered in tentacles. "It's definitely a possibility, I'll say," she agreed with the idea and continued her account. "Anyway, an argument broke out between Ater and Arbus concerning the deal and their parents. Ater thinks the two of them should've listened, but Arbus was completely against it because she didn't trust these enemies of ours and rightfully so. She believed they were tricking Ater and I've got to concur with her on that. It made Ater throw a huge fit the whole way back because Arbus broke the deal which made the lich demon and Soa leave, saying they had business elsewhere to handle. Fishy, right?"

"Indeed," the Had Angel nodded in agreement and so did his older brother. "Following the Doppelganger Murders Soa caused, I'd say we should definitely focus our efforts on those two."

"Quite right," Kcalb said and averted his attention back to Grora. "Anything else, Grora?"

"Just a couple details, really. The lich demon told us the undead wouldn't assault us on our way out; surprisingly enough, they didn't. Ater's wailing even caught the attention of a patrol that showed us the way out instead of fighting us. That strange lich demon also mentioned 'Skrevera'."

"Skrevera…" the Devil murmured, shutting his eyes to think about that. "Ater sent emails to Fumus and Reficul pertaining to that particular name, but they didn't know what it meant."

"As a matter of fact, I saw her send those emails which was when I first learned of it," the angelic lady replied, telling him this for the first time. "I decided not to report it at the time despite the fact she didn't have permission to do it. It wasn't my business anyway, and I thought the thing was relevant to her parents since I saw bookmarks she used with the first three letters of that word's two spellings when she went through family registers in the library once. I'd say she's getting quite desperate, though that still isn't a valid excuse for betraying our world all for the sake of finding a lead that may or may not be true. This is her home for god's sake, it should at least be that valuable to her instead of two individuals who were never around for her and Arbus. Even if a deity or some kind of demon knows, she has no right of turning our fates over to them for what could be lies."

"I can concur that it isn't proper justification, but bear this in mind, Grora," Kcalb explained softly, adopting a neutral stance in the issue regarding Ater's treasonous behavior. "Ater is decades old like Arbus. This problem's been an issue for them throughout their lives, though their reactions to it are different. Arbus has accepted the facts pertaining to what might've happened to them and knows she and her sister may have been unwanted by their parents; yet she's not letting it prevent her from being happy because she loves the Gray Garden and everyone inhabiting it. Ater's cause for concern is different as she fears the things Arbus isn't inhibiting herself by, seeking a truth for closure since she doesn't have any; it's taken quite a heavy toll on her heart and psyche. We talked about this once before after you read through their diaries if you'll recall, Grora."

"Yeah, I still remember that."

"Before our conversation then, however, Othros spoke to me and during our chat he asked what I would do when faced with the decision to tell them what we've found in that investigation. I still don't know whether telling them a dark truth or what may be a lie is right since it could make them unhappy either way. Even if the worst has somehow come to pass, it is still closure in a way even though it might not fully explain why the girls' parents wound up away from their lives."

"So?" Grora inquired, stuffing her hands into her pockets. "What does that mean under the circumstances? You wouldn't trust Soa and the lich demon after what the former did, right? After all, for all we know they could be lying in an attempt to cause more chaos in our world."

"For the time being, we wouldn't concerning this delicate matter," Wodahs piped up. "Still, what is just as strange as those two are the fact they and the undead weren't hostile to you. We've got to ask ourselves why that is and understand their intentions better in this regard. Soa's not tame from what we know of her due to the Doppelganger Murders, yet this sudden docile nature of hers could be a trap as you suggest. On the flipside, however, what if she has done a turnaround despite maintaining any of the darker characteristics comprising her personality? Are they truthful then?"

Their subordinate scowled, disliking the idea they were going to investigate this subject for further clarification. They were already well aware of what Soa could do and knew she was in fact a psychopath who reveled in killing others and causing chaos, finding pleasure in the effects of her actions. Trying to understand Soa was like attempting to multiply one twice. It was a fairly obvious perspective of the doppelganger considering what she did, giving Grora a good reason to not place her trust in Soa and the lich demon. "What, you're thinking about going in there in search of those two for a friendly chat before she eats you both? You'll just become her meal!"

"We're not advocating for that even if it may be an option to consider," Wodahs set Grora at ease with the plan of action. "We'll approach this situation with caution and see what'll happen. We don't know what they're planning, though we'll be on alert for whatever they might do. Their next actions could help us form a better impression of who they really are and what they want."

"What they want is our destruction!" the angelic lady raised her voice, beginning to lose a bit of patience with these guys. She couldn't believe they were looking for more information about a threat they already knew of due to Soa's actions and what she revealed months ago during those Doppelganger Murders she caused. It upset her greatly since she felt they weren't taking this issue seriously. "We should go back down into that city with them gone and sack it! We've got powerful manpower and excellent magic, it shouldn't be too hard eliminating their undead servants with the two of them gone! That way we can mitigate the threat by obliterating those things focus on them!"

"Careful, Grora, we don't want to end up like the sun angels," Kcalb chided her gently for the idea, ignoring her contradiction. "We've also got this thing—a Great Elder it seems—as a third cause for concern. The three of them together can be overwhelming to us all, hence caution as the necessary means of handling this matter delicately. Besides, we've not heard anything about Soa causing any trouble since then and our world's been safe for the time being. Therefore, while they may still be dangerous, we must regard this subject as a high level risk factor due to their strength. Soa is definitely stronger than Eti and likely myself too; what's to say the other two are the same or not? We put precautions in place and have taken necessary steps to protect our world, but we mustn't act on one or two incidents and information gleaned from them alone as sources."

"My brother is correct, Grora," Wodahs affirmed the Devil's logic. "Making the first move could be deadly in any situation because we don't know what may happen next. It is better to stay on top of this by analyzing what they do once they act before us. It's not the plan of action you do prefer at times, though understanding the threat better safely is a primary concern of ours."

"I get that, but what if we're too late?!" Grora asked, raising a point.

"True, though let's not be too hasty," Kcalb acknowledged that notion and put forth a minor counterargument to make his own point. "Nothing's happened concerning them as of yet, so we've probably got time we should make use of instead of acting immediately which can cause conflict," he explained further. "A passive stance is needed to ensure we don't act rashly, thereby improving our odds of regulating the potential threat if it's there from a safe standpoint, understand?"

"Yeah, I said I get it, alright!" Grora retorted and began to walk out without being dismissed by them. She realized her behavior was getting too hot and knew she had to cool off for a spell so she could think clearly like them. "I'm heading to the gym if you guys still need me." Hopefully a bit of exercise would calm her down, which was exactly what she planned to do. Softly slamming the door behind her, the angel muttered a string of curses under her breath after she left. Grora was perfectly aware that caution was more valuable, but knew even she preferred action sometimes.

…

"I hate you, Arbus!" a wailing Ater cried, tears pouring down her cheeks as she shouted at her twin sister for she had done the previous night. "We could've learned about our parents, though you just had to give up on them! Why must you make things so difficult for us both, huh?!"

"I did it for your sake, Ater!" Arbus retorted, trying to make her white haired sister see the reasoning behind why she had to break that deal. "I'm your sister, and it worries me when you go behind my back making deals with untrustworthy characters who are planning on using you instead of keeping their word! What's wrong with you, Ater?! Why must you make things difficult?!"

"I had our best interests at heart, Arbus! You clearly do not!"

"Would our best interests include letting a deity invade our world and arranging a deal with somebody associated with the doppelganger that killed innocent people?! Are they best interests?!"

"I didn't mean for that to happen and you damn well know it, Arbus!"

"You did too! You made those deals in the first place, not me, Ater!"

Etihw sighed, pressing a hand to her temple as she began to feel the pain of a headache due to the heated argument between these girls. Ater and Arbus hadn't gotten along since last night, a feud that lasted well into today ever since the mission ended successfully. Grora and Arbus rescued Ater from the confines of that city Soa was also discovered in, and the time would come for a key decision she and Kcalb would have to make concerning Ater's betrayal. They were going to declare a trial for the poor girl to let her speak to any of the charges against her, but first they required Ater to make a statement explaining why she did what she did. Granted, she and the Devil already knew why since they suspected it had to do with her missing parents as Arbus confirmed it for them. She was reluctant to go through with the trial and so was Kcalb and everyone else contacted to be part of it. Etihw felt they'd reach a unanimous consensus and decide to spare her, probably giving Ater a slap on the wrist with a bit of community service, and she desperately hoped that was the case.

Right now, however, the white haired cat demon was being very difficult with them. Ater's insistence on Arbus having done the wrong thing by refusing to follow through with her for finding out more about their parents was getting on the black haired cat demon's nerves. Arbus' demands that Ater's methods of going about her own search for their parents was wrong annoyed her sister. The two kitties had never experienced a single spat in their lifetime as far as the Goddess knew, as this was really the first significant fallout between them throughout their entire lives. Although she could understand why Ater turned her coat even if she didn't fully comprehend how she attempted to fulfill her objective, Etihw couldn't disagree with Arbus after hearing her full report on the job. It was an uneasy conflict because she felt there might not have been wrong answers just as the lack of right ones was also present with it, knowing this feud was a double edged sword deadly to both.

"Look, can't you both just settle down for a bit so we can talk about this calmly instead of bickering over what happened?" Etihw asked, getting in between them to act as a mediator. While she hoped things could be patched up, the Goddess anticipated this fight would go on forever even if Ater and Arbus degraded its intensity. "We'll speak about this one at a time. Ater, you first."

"I don't want to talk! She abandoned our parents! I did what I thought was best for the two of us!" Ater cried, shifting the blame for what had happened onto the black haired cat demon.

"And what if they abandoned us, huh?!" Arbus countered the second part of the statement. "I'll concede it would be closure to know that much, but I have already come to terms with it! The actions you took to try and accomplish your goal were wrong, Ater! The ends don't justify means!"

"Well, what the hell would you want me to do, huh?! Just sit around and do nothing while everyone else is searching for them and come up short with nothing?! We have to help, Arbus, we have to try!" her twin sister insisted, claiming this was all Arbus' fault because she didn't want to even try finding them. "All I want is for us to learn about our parents and why they're not here! Is that so wrong, Arbus?! I fulfilled my end of the bargain, all you had to do was listen with me!"

"That's not the point, Ater! We're not talking about our parents right now! The subject we are discussing right now is your betrayal! You made a deal with a lich demon associated with Soa! You opened up portals for the Sun God's army! They could've attacked us because of you!"

Once more Etihw sighed, frustrated they weren't really getting anywhere to make progress. "Look, Ater," she spoke up calmly to intervene before they could start yelling at each other again, "I understand how you feel, truly I do. Yet I cannot deny what Arbus is saying because it is indeed the topic we are in fact talking about right now. We can speak about why you did it at a later time, though for now let's concentrate specifically on the what, Ater: the actions you took to ensure the answers you sought would be achieved." Putting the why off to the side for now was a smart idea, but the Goddess hoped it wouldn't have any negative ramifications. Ater could've perceived a lack of the why as an uncaring attitude from her, misreading what Etihw was actually saying. "Tell me, what were the terms of your arrangement with Siralos' forces? Let's begin with that, alright?"

"I only went to him because I thought that would give Miss Grora proper justification when she would fight me! I had to lose on purpose and I accomplished that! Is that hard to understand?!" Ater shouted, not really answering the Goddess' question. She stormed over to the bed she and her twin sister shared while she said that, plopping down on top of the covers and glaring at them. Her eyes were full of tears, and she was weeping bitterly because she felt they didn't understand her.

"Yes, we're well aware of why you went to him," Etihw remarked, aware that joining their enemies from the Sun Heaven would've been a good reason for wanting to fight the kitty. She had suspected it right from get-go when Arbus brought up the term Ater was given in the deal she made with the lich demon. However, like she already said, they were not focusing on the why; just what. "Yet that doesn't explain the terms of whatever deal you made with the sun angels. I'm sure those guys only asked you to open portals in the castle, but you at least set your own terms, correct?"

"I asked Siralos to spare Arbus and the citizens!" she yelled, finally replying to the inquiry. "I kept up my end of the bargain with him by opening those damn portals just because Miss Grora needed the proper justification! He gave me his word he'd spare them and let me choose the means of my own execution! I expected him to let Arbus and I learn about our parents, but they attacked me instead! I only fled there because Miss Raspbel gestured for me to follow her over to that city!"

"That was not Raspbel, Ater, it was her doppelganger, Soa," Etihw clarified for her.

"Whatever!" Arbus interrupted, losing her patience with the conversation as she could not take much more of her sister's incessant whining over how she tried so hard to fulfill the deals she made behind everyone's back. "I don't give a damn about who you saw, Ater! The point is you've done something wrong! How dare you betray us and throw your life away just because you can't handle missing Mom and Dad! I was worried sick about you, Ater! Do you even realize how much I'll suffer if you let yourself be killed just for the sake of finding them with an untrustworthy lead?! Do you?!" She breathed heavily, having made her point which was a valid concept because of her frightened concern for the other's life. Although Ater did appreciate it, she did not accept it since she was still stubbornly insisting that what she did was right even if the means were wrong.

"Well, what am I supposed to do besides sitting around doing nothing while I wait for word on them?! I'm worried sick about them, and you don't even care about them at all! I had no choice, Arbus, no choice! Lord Kcalb hasn't found anything, but I did! I considered the safety of you and the citizens when I made that deal with the Sun God! All of you were still a priority because I care about you! Why is it whenever I try to do something right, I get punished simply because I care?!"

"You don't even know if he would've spared us, Ater! You had no guarantee he was going to let us live because you did this all by yourself without even trying to confirm if he was telling a lie or was being truthful!" Arbus fired back, pinning all the blame where it rightfully belonged on Ater, even if her intentions were good and understandable. "You've no way of even knowing how that lich demon is a reliable source or not! Instead you've just plodded along without thinking!" It was a cruel accusation because it was true, and although Ater tried to speak to the valid points her sister raised, the black haired cat demon refused to let her speak again. "Absolutely not, Ater, I am not going to hear you prattle on about how much you miss them and how you attempted to search for them by going against us and your home world! This investigation is consuming you, Ater, and I will not be a part of it because I would like to be happy, thank you very much! I've accepted the facts that could be truths concerning the fate of our parents and why they're not here, but you're a coward who won't even acknowledge those concepts by running away from understanding them!"

"You're the coward, Arbus!" Ater retorted, jolting to her feet and storming right in Arbus' face to pin the accusatory insult onto her instead. "You're not even trying to help me! I'm the one doing all the work, you're sitting on your ass doing jackshit aside from _enjoying happiness_!" Those last two words were delivered in a sarcastic tone, bitterly cold with the emphasis on them because Ater phrased it that way to portray her twin as the coward abandoning their family for happiness.

"Can you both just stop fighting for once so we can talk about this cordially?!" the Goddess attempted to intervene by raising her own voice, though she was drowned out amidst the argument.

"Then why don't you just get the hell out and go off in search of them, then?!" Arbus cried in an angry tone, furious that Ater wasn't listening to reason. "You care about them so much, why don't you go find them then instead of sitting around on your own ass here?! I won't stop you!"

"Because I don't know where to look!" Ater retorted. "I found a lead on them, Arbus!"

"And you don't even know if the source is reliably dependable or not, Ater!"

"I still have to try, Arbus!" Ater insisted in her whining tone.

"Then go ahead and let yourself be consumed by something that's engulfing you already!" Arbus shouted, throwing her arms out at her sides to emphasize how sick and tired she was of Ater and her constant whining over what the black haired kitty believed was a foolish endeavor. "I don't want any part of it, Ater! You want this to engulf you, fine, just keep me out of this from now on!"

Ater sniffed, tears drenching her whole face. She could not believe Arbus was really doing this by abandoning the efforts to try and find their parents, all so she could be happy without them. That was how she perceived it, and the notion made her clench her teeth in seething rage. "Fine, I will, but know this Arbus: you and I are through! We're no longer sisters anymore, understand?!" The sudden escalation of their fight reached a dangerously high level, one that would surely make an impact on the cat demons' sisterly relationship forever because of what it implied. Etihw gasped when the white haired kitty made that drastic proclamation, wishing it wasn't so since she did not want it to pass. Although the Goddess tried to make Ater take it back, Arbus wouldn't let her.

"You don't mean that, Ater!" the black haired cat demon challenged her twin sister.

"I do too, Arbus!" Ater reaffirmed her decision to permanently end their sisterly bond. "We are done with each other, Arbus! As your former sister, I hereby disown you from our family!"

It was like a bad dream had come true with this drastic separation between the two of them. Both cat demons had reacted very differently to this subject in spite of being twins who agreed on everything. For once they couldn't agree on something that ended up tearing them apart for good. Etihw could not help but stare at how heated this conflict became, how it escalated quickly into an overly dramatic situation that would unlikely be mended. While Ater was still crying, turning away from the Goddess and her twin sister, Arbus was handling it different. Unlike Ater, there were not any tears in the black haired cat demon's eyes as she stared furiously at the girl she once called her twin sister. She was growling, realizing Ater was throwing a hissy fit over her own damn problems without accepting responsibility for her actions by being a stupid child. It was harsh, though Arbus accepted the fact her former sister was being childish by foolishly refusing to accept the facts.

"Ater…" Etihw murmured in shock, trying to calm the other girl down. "You mustn't—"

"No, save it, Lady Etihw," Arbus interrupted her coldly, holding her arm in front of Etihw. "She wants it to end this way, fine, we'll no longer be sisters anymore. I'm through with her too."

"B-but—" the Goddess tried to stammer out a gentle rebuttal of that acceptance, but failed.

"Forget it, she's already made it clear she just wants to throw her own life away," the black haired kitty went on and began to get a few suitcases out of the closet she and Ater once shared to start packing them with her own sets of clothes. "I'll have no part of it anymore. I want to be happy instead of wallowing in miserable grief. She wants to be consumed and end our bond, fine by me. I wasted my own time and effort attempting to get her to see reason while understanding logic for her own sake. She doesn't want my help, she can be swallowed whole by this obsession of hers."

"So you're both just going to end it like that?" a shocked Etihw asked, desperate since she wanted them to make up rather than fight and get separated. "But what will you do now, Arbus?"

"Yep, it's officially over, so I'm moving in with you, Lady Etihw," Arbus said unopposed.


	15. Chapter Fifteen: An Old Friend Returns

Pouring over the notes she had taken, Grora sighed and took a sip of water to quench a bit of her thirst. The hour was late, night had already fallen since the day was coming to an end. Grora could hear an owl hoot outside her window, averting her attention to watch the bird fly off into the distance in search of prey. Running a hand through her hair distractedly, the angel picked up some other notes from the library which were still in the folder. The title along the side and on the cover read _'Doppelganger Murders'_ , the incident months ago which plagued Gray Village and the castle due to the monstrous designs of Soa and the presence of ghouls and something far more sinister.

Opening it up to read them in the lamplight of her desk, Grora familiarized herself with the details by scanning the comments with her eye. It narrowed, glossing over the descriptions of Soa's victims and how they were all cannibalized by her. The only exceptions were those guards before she successfully kidnapped Rawberry and Macarona. The doppelganger's modus operandi was her other self, Raspbel Preserves, as all the crimes centered on people Raspbel knew and places she'd been at. Rawberry's older sister had been the connection because Soa manifested from her, thereby becoming an original demon with plenty of destructive power. That was evident when she actually proved herself stronger than Etihw, having gained power from the strange Great Elder also pictured and alluded to on one file. Furthermore, she was also Cranber's former sense of taste, so that might have also contributed to how strong the doppelganger was. Soa truly was a terrible monster.

Yet her recent behavior the other day only raised questions as to what Soa and her comrade, the enigmatic lich demon, sought. Their deal with Ater could've been a means of using her to start another assault on the Gray Garden. They probably lied to her, goading the cat demon on with the false lead known as Skrevera to try and trick the poor girl into betraying this world like with those sun angels she aided. Maybe the reason why those two and the undead with them were not hostile to them when recollecting Ater was because they saw no reason to, deciding to kill them at another time. It made no sense now, especially when Soa and the lich demon weren't around to answer the inquiry themselves because they were probably still absent. The doorway into that city was closed when Grora went there with two squads before to investigate the premises, so nothing was gained from them when the inhabitants of this world were now being denied entry to see those foes.

Grora sighed, leaning back in her chair and briefly averting her focus to the other files she had for just a moment. They were the notes she'd taken at the door for her own perusal, jotting the markings and symbols down to try and concentrate on some kind of translation. She even sketched a picture of the entranceway itself in pencil, noting the massive size of it by height and width along the margins to the side and below the picture itself. Those same measurements and the dialect were also taken to the anthropology and archaeology departments so the people there could decipher the language if possible. Unfortunately, they couldn't, realizing it was far too ancient than speculated. However, they were able to make the connection with Moreisineum, the city of ghouls over within the earth beneath the eastern forest because the symbols and markings were exactly the same.

With a frown, the angel realized they had reached an impasse on understanding what might have been an ancient civilization with an eldritch religion. No further leads could be gained as they didn't comprehend this better than she felt they should've. It started to look like a useless endeavor, one they couldn't follow very well due to how difficult comprehending this stuff was. They didn't have much evidence and many facts to go off on, meaning this steep hill became a mountain.

Swiveling towards the dartboard once she took up the darts lying on her desk after she took them out of a drawer, Grora began to throw them around the center target. Pondering on how things were going these days, she merely rested her free arm behind her head as she wondered how Arbus and Ater were doing. Although their fallout wasn't her business, therefore giving her no reason to even involve herself in it, the angelic lady couldn't help but feel sorry for them. Arbus was simply doing her best to take care of her sister because she loved her, wanting the white haired cat demon to be happy by growing up and accepting dark theories as potential realities. Grora understood the poor girl was terrified of those ideas and desperately sought closure because she did not want them to be true. Even so, what Ater wanted didn't justify her betrayal and the way she acted against her own sister. Ater was essentially a child begging to see and hear about her parents, choosing parental figures who were always absent over the world that raised her and the friends she made within the Gray Garden. Disowning Arbus and taking her anger out on everybody was improper and entirely wrong because it demonstrated she wasn't ready to accept the theories and acknowledge them. The poor kitty was still understood even if she wanted her parents more than that, though nothing more could be done about that since she already received a light punishment for her serious betrayal.

What Ater felt was truly outrageous was the fact that even Kcalb and Etihw were trying to keep her from forming other deals. The Goddess and Devil were worried about her because they've considered the fact she might've been lied to. The two of them feared Ater was probably led on by red herrings, agreeing with Arbus for the white haired cat demon's sake. They wanted to keep Ater safe from grim lies and dark truths, preferring to have them broken to her gently once investigated fully. Although they sought to uncover the validity of any and all sources regardless of whether or not those sources were reliable or unreliable, Ater wouldn't accept it. She did not because they had specifically told her to not look towards the lich demon and Soa for those truths out of concern the two foes were looking for a fight by using her like they already did against Grora. While they have promised to look into the matter themselves, they insisted Ater stay put under the house arrest she was punished with. Therefore, Ater was essentially grounded. She didn't believe them as she came to the misguided conclusion they weren't even going to try helping her, especially because of that punishment inhibiting her from going off to pursue her own inquiries and investigations.

She was still allowed to perform her regular duties, but stayed clear of them since Ater had realized the bad attitude she adopted was irresponsible. The cat demon hadn't been to the daycare center with her sister—maybe Grora and everyone else should've just called them coworkers now since Ater disowned her—to help care for the little children and play with them. Ater had become bitter towards others, not responding to them and lashing out whenever she could for whatever felt like a good enough reason in her mind. This sudden change in behavior didn't suit her, and people started to become afraid of her just as they also worried about her too. Nowadays all Ater did was wander the castle, going wherever she pleased just to kill time. Hopefully she didn't kill anyone.

Even Grora had to admit the unusual rage Ater displayed was unhealthy, for it was sullenly poor due to how the cat demon seemed to be whiling the time away doing absolutely nothing since she couldn't do anything. Everyone apart from the angelic woman cared about her and tried to help her because they knew she desperately needed it along with something to occupy Ater's time which could hopefully soothe her nerves. Yet she refused them every time, always angry at everybody.

Her immaturity over the loss of that only opportunity she felt she had—more like a lie that led the cat demon to misguided theories and conclusions—was pitiful. Yet it also pissed Grora off because she figured this was just another façade the jokes and pranks Ater pulled with Arbus. She definitely felt it was, having known the girl for quite a long time; just as long as Etihw and Kcalb. Hence why she thought about answering Ater's rage with her own to show the kitty what it actually felt like and counterbalance the cat demon in that respect. Then again, the Devil and Goddess were not too keen of Grora's own bad behavior around Ater and Arbus before, so maybe that would just make things worse for the angel instead. Grora certainly didn't need or even want the hassle, so it was best to just ignore her foe's presence and refuse to acknowledge she even existed at all. Unless Ater happened to purposely take her anger out on her, Grora wouldn't do anything out of spite and pity. The white haired cat demon clearly wasn't worthy of that much considering the situation.

Tossing the final dart into her dartboard, the angel rested her head in the palm of her hand, the elbow perched atop the desk while she eyed the accurate results near the center as usual. "Man, what a drag…" she murmured out of boredom, finding no enjoyment in a minor activity she liked. Sometimes it was to test her hand to eye coordination and vice versa, on other occasions the thing was a fun game of sorts whether she played it alone or with friends. These days her thoughts were occupied by concerns of what could have been a third invasion undertaken by the lich demon and Soa as a replacement for the Sun God's failed assault. Unlike the last one, this one was hard to be prepared for because they had little information regarding their foes and their true intentions.

Collecting the darts, Grora turned her head to the clock and saw it was nearly ten thirty. A late hour of sorts, even if it wasn't exactly too late. Still, the angel stored her darts back in the desk and got ready for bed. After using the bathroom and changing into a pair of blue pajamas, she had yawned and pulled back the covers on her bed to sit on it. Swinging her legs onto it as well, Grora tucked herself in and rested her head on the pillows. A thought crossed her mind that it was better to remove the eyepatch over where her left eye once was, though the angel figured it didn't matter. The thing didn't bother her when she slept, so it was alright to leave it on for tonight as she usually did. Turning over onto her right side so she could face the window by her bed for a peek under the shutters into the night sky after closing them at that moment, she yawned again and fell into a deep sleep. Her body had been tensed up for a bit, though it gradually relaxed now that she was in bed.

Slowly her mind switched gears from thoughts and dreams about Ater and Hastur to those of more pleasant scenarios. She dreamed of tending to the garden with her friends, a bit of quality time with Froze and the young angel's friends, and just peaceful days in general when entertained fears of invasions weren't a problem. These harmonious concepts brought a smile to her face while Grora slept, thinking of how much better this world was now that it no longer had to be home to a fruitless conflict between angels and demons. Grora loved this world, especially now that she was no longer a member of True Light serving under a man who only cared about himself and his own goals. That was one of the worst periods of her life, and she didn't want to ever look back on it.

She could feel a hand on her shoulder all of a sudden and drew her arms closer to her chest. "Five more minutes…" the angel quietly murmured, requesting for more shuteye even after she'd only just fallen asleep. Her bidding seemed to have been fulfilled, leading Grora to suspect one of the other employees or her superiors sought her attention. Surely they could wait or find somebody else for whatever the individual—or people if more than one person—required her for. In any case, the affair wasn't of much concern to her because whoever wanted her didn't need her that badly.

Yet five minutes later as contrary to her actual wish of being able to sleep all night, she felt another light nudge on her shoulder which garnered another response from her; albeit a sleepy one. "See me in the morning…I'll get to it then…" Grora remarked in her sleep, unaware of who needed her. It didn't matter to her because she wanted to sleep unbothered by others because she was tired. Nevertheless, the angel felt somebody tenderly caress her cheek which was odd even if the feeling of it was sweet and kindhearted, almost as somebody who cherished her in life was watching over her. Although Grora didn't mind the affection, she preferred to be alone while she slept and gently bat the hand away. "Not now, please, I would like to sleep now, thank you…Leave a message."

 _"At the tone of the beep?"_ a voice giggled lightheartedly which got Grora's attention. The angelic woman's eye slowly flitted open, surprised to find herself surrounded by light with a gentle breeze tenderly brushing against her body. Groaning while sitting up, rubbing the back of her head, Grora opened her eye wide and was immediately amazed to find herself in an open pasture of nice flowers and bright green grassy plains as far as her eye could see. Thinking this was a dream she'd woken up in, the angel rubbed her eye before pinching herself to confirm she was still awake. Yet that did not change anything and it certainly didn't make this dream pop. She was surprised to find herself wide awake in a dream, and discovered she was wearing her regular attire once again.

Grora blinked several times, confused as to where she was and what had been going on. It appeared to be a pleasant dream for the moment, though she next thought of Soa and grimaced due to believing this was a trick Raspbel's doppelganger might've been utilizing now. "What, you are unable to attack me in the waking world, Soa? Think invading my dreams and turning them into a bunch of bloody nightmares is going to scare me? Newsflash: these are my dreams, Soa, and I can kick your ass back down to that filthy garbage heap you call a city." She didn't expect that would work because the doppelganger would've merely laughed at it, having already messed with dreams Raspbel had before escaping the demon's body and causing all that trouble months ago.

 _"Nice to see you haven't changed a bit, Grora,"_ the voice spoke again from beside her just as the angel realized it was actually an old friend and superior she admired and respected. Turning her head to the right, her eye widened as she saw the familiar blue hair in a ponytail draping down to the ground behind them. The other angel's white floral skirt complimented the pink blouse she'd been wearing, sandals adorning her feet with a petal buckle to decorate the straps and match a nice bracelet on the other lady's left arm. Her bright green eyes were the same color as the grass in this meadow they were in. _"It's been a while since we last saw each other, about a year or so, right?"_

Grora smiled, the grin widening while she threw her arms around the spirit of someone she considered to be one of her best friends. "Robin!" she cried in delight, embracing her old captain's strangely corporeal form in a big hug to welcome her back after quite a while of being apart. "It's so good to see you again!" Drawing away from the spirit slightly, she kept both hands on Robin's shoulders to scrutinize her closely. "This isn't a dream, is it? I've not died and gone to the afterlife already, have I? It's really you sitting here next to me? But how is you're not ethereal here?"

 _"So many questions at once,"_ Robin chuckled. _"Which one should I answer first, Grora?"_

"All of them!" Grora exclaimed, still surprised to see her old friend which excited her too.

 _"Everything in no particular order it seems. I guess I'll start from the beginning then,"_ the spiritual angel replied in accordance to her former subordinate's wishes. _"I suppose you could say this is a dream of sorts since you're still alive and well from what I can see. You can see me within here as a solid figure you can interact with, hence why you could actually feel me in your hug. I'm not incorporeal in this realm because this is your dream, only you have control over it; yet I could show up in your presence this way because of my association with you in the past during the war. However, I am not a figment of your imagination brought to life through this dream as I am in fact in the flesh, so to speak. In other words, I simply came from the afterlife to pay you a visit, Grora."_

"And you're more than welcome to stay for as long as you want!" Grora shut her eye while grinning widely, very glad Robin had returned to come and see her in spite of having passed away. What could she expect? Her friend was a ghost now and seemed to possess the ability to come and go back and forth between the afterlife and the Gray Garden whenever she pleased. Then again, it probably cost her energy to manifest which Grora made sure to ask about. "You can, right, Robin?"

 _"In here, yes, though the waking world requires a lot more energy if I'm to manifest if that is what you're thinking,"_ Robin responded, anticipating that question from the other angel. _"There are no limits on my being present in your dreams, so we can spend as much time as you'd like here where we can meet and converse about the good old days, what's going on, etcetera, etcetera."_

"Good, glad to hear it. There's so much I want to say to you," the living angel smiled while putting her arm around her old friend. "But we can save chit-chat for later. What brings you here?"

Robin also smiled, accepting the embrace while looking out across the field and breathing in the crisp, fresh air her old subordinate's dream provided as she shut her eyes temporarily. _"Yes, there is a specific reason for my being here now of all times when I've not come to you before. As you know, I've been watching over you and your friends from the afterlife."_ Her smile turned into a frown when she began the next part of her explanation and she turned to face Grora. _"I am quite worried about you, Grora. I fear the latest problems the Gray Garden is dealing with are causing grief for you. It's not good to keep all that rage, sadness, and fear bottled up inside of you."_

"Ah…thank you," the live angel murmured softly and watched the meadow too. "I am not sure about that fear you're thinking of unless it's my concern for those I care about. I'm not really all that sad either because I'm looking forward to peaceful days of bliss without conflict." Sighing heavily, Grora figured she might as well also address the other emotion Robin brought up. "Though you are correct that I am really angry all the time lately, and I'm sure you're well aware the anger is justified considering what's been happening lately with Hastur returning, Siralos invading, along with that damn little shit turning her coat all for the sake of what may be false leads to her parents."

 _"Well, why don't we address those problems one at a time, shall we?"_ her friend offered a bit of therapeutic help via their friendship to discuss the problems plaguing Grora at this time. That was a good idea, and she knew the other angel welcomed her help as depicted in the smile showing she certainly did want to talk about this stuff and get Robin's perspective on everything. _"Why not begin with what started this whole affair? Hastur seems a good place to start as any."_

"Hastur…" Grora murmured, shutting her eye and frowning somberly. "That's a name and a man I'd like to forget—well, others who share the same name might be welcomed, but not him." She took a deep breath, thinking of how she could word her phrases carefully. "My time in the old order we used to run together, True Light, wasn't all bad, I suppose. We fought for a tradition that shaped our world in the past as it still does for plenty of other worlds. I had friends by my side due to a common interest we shared in reviving that tradition for the sake of our people because we've believed Sir Devil and the Head Angel were leading a large party of demons and Fallen Angels to usurp Lady Etihw." She finished this bit of the discussion with a sigh and let Robin speak up.

 _"There is nothing wrong with wanting to preserve traditions, Grora, though there are times when it is best to move on for the sake of fresh ideals. They may be different from the old ways, but previous customs are still there as they helped shape the individual and prepared him or her for a new world order. Whether these new ideals fit with that individual is up to said person to decide."_

"And I clearly chose poorly, not just because I believed in those traditions, but also because I had faith in the man who sought to accomplish the endeavor of keeping them alive. Granted, the faith I had in our cause may have been pure from the general consensus during the war, though it's not something that has any place in our current society as I recognized and acknowledged too late," Grora went on, continuing their talk about her problems by concentrating on Hastur first. "I was a fool for believing in Hastur, for loving a man I once respected and would've followed anywhere."

Robin frowned sadly, raising an arm to gently rub the other angel's back. _"He called your love tainted and impure."_ Her words denoted her awareness of what Grora already said within the waking world. _"Hastur was wrong to say that because love is not a malevolent emotion. His claim is unfounded, even if your love was too. I say that because he himself didn't believe in it and made the argument that love was a corrupted blight on his twisted beliefs. Yet although the love you had for him was unfounded, it was true because you believed it to be so. It was not false; only the man who denied it was."_ There was a ring of truth to Robin's logic which made Grora smile somberly.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Robin, though I still feel guilty for having loved him," she remarked. "I know it's probably not my fault as you might say, though I still feel it is."

 _"Why is that?"_ Robin asked and made a theory. _"Because of what you did in True Light?"_

"Yeah, I sure was used by the bastard. We all were and didn't know. I was the first to find out about it, and I grappled with my feelings on the issue before I realized what I've been doing at the time was very wrong. We were all his pawns, Robin, tools he took up just to prove a point and dispose of us once we served the purpose he had in mind for us. We were guinea pigs to him."

 _"A cruel experiment designed to demonstrate how evil one can be,"_ Robin agreed with her assessment prior to putting forth a different example that still correlated to the man. _"Such a shame such tactics could be implemented to tarnish one's reputation. It sort of reminds me about Project Dynol Peiriant in a way, what with Germain ruining his own for the sake of traditional values. As a matter of fact, when I fought his spirit as a spirit myself alongside Cleopatra and Leonidas, I've actually caught sight of the man you despise. Hastur was present for the operation, if only to watch it unfold; though he left shortly before the failure of Project Dyno Peiriant. Irrelevant, yet similar."_

"He sure does seem to get around in that line of work," Grora commented, having only just realized during her friend's remark that Hastur wasn't really involved in that operation aside from simply being an observer to the incident that unfolded due to its failure. "I've not thought he would have taken an interest in the project since he hates magic, though I guess he will use anything as a means of fulfilling those sick objectives of his. I'm actually a bit surprised he'd look to that idea."

 _"When you're an individual seeking to accomplish your own goals by any means possible, anything will be utilized so long as it acquires the achieved results you're looking for. Means have only been justified by the ends, so to speak. Hastur, for example, will go to great lengths to see his ideals realized and shall commit himself to using all available resources regardless of whether the notions go against himself and his beliefs. It's just the sort of man he is, Grora, a man blinded with rage towards those he feels are inferior to himself because he does not see the real value in them."_

"Yeah, I pretty much got all that figured out by now and even before you mentioned it. The guy's a real nut job in that department, going completely insane with power and acting like he can be entitled to it solely because of how well he did in life," Grora chuckled bitterly, yet smiled since she was insulting her old boss. "He's not doing so well anymore from the looks of it." Robin gave her a look without the need to teach the other angel a lesson, though Grora got the message. "Yeah, I know, don't judge a book by its cover and all. I got that covered too, Robin, don't worry."

 _"With all due respect, Grora, although I believe you understand that much regarding him, I do not think the same could be said for Ater,"_ the ethereal angel progressed onto Ater next which made her friend scowl slightly because Grora felt Robin was going to lecture her on how to better treat the cat demons. Still, she didn't make a comment against since she wanted her opinion. _"I've seen the way you mistreat her, Grora, and quite frankly I'm not pleased with it either. From what I can tell, you despise her mainly due to an accident in which she accidently gouged your eye out."_ Robin raised an arm and pointed at the eyepatch over her friend's missing eye. _"May I see it?"_ As Grora didn't want to say no or bat the arm away, she reluctantly removed the eyepatch and allowed Robin to examine the empty socket for a minute before putting the eyepatch back over Grora. _"I'm sure the poor girl didn't mean it, they were very young and didn't understand what consequences mean as they were only little children like the ones they help care for. You've heard this before."_

"But they weren't really punished all that well, Robin," the living angel countered, using a calm tone of voice to make her point and get the message across. "Those two deserve it—well, for the most part, Ater—which is why I feel they should be punished for that and everything else they get wrong. Neither of them seemed to have grown up as they're always pulling pranks and making jokes. I don't care if their misconduct is lighthearted and all, but they need to be punished so they can learn to grow up, that's all. They were hardly much use during Ivlis' invasion, and Ater's even gone so far as to betray us to Siralos along with that lich demon and Soa without telling anyone."

 _"I admit what she did was wrong and agree with you one hundred percent on that, Grora,"_ the spiritual angel nodded to concur with Grora's statement. _"Though please try to understand the problem from Ater's perspective. The poor girl only wants to know about her parents and is quite scared of what she might find. Yet she is also terrified of not being able to do anything and also of not finding out anything at all about them. That's why she feels her actions were necessary."_

"They so were not, Robin," Grora lightly retorted and sighed, looking at her friend. "Ater's made a deal with Soa and the lich demon. They made her fight me and lose on purpose, Robin."

 _"And what would be the point of that, Grora? How does that make them unnecessary?"_ A shrug from the live angel with a confused facial expression added to the gesture demonstrated that Grora really had no idea how to answer that, leading Robin to explain the matter. _"Bear in mind a fight between two individuals is just that: a fight. Compared to your actions against her and Arbus throughout your lives together, you were always the aggressive one while they cowered before the imposing intimidation you displayed towards the two of them. That is the key difference which has distinguished the recent conflict between you and Ater from those other conflicts. Before this, your actions were simply bullying; although the cat demons are liable to defend themselves, why do you think they don't?"_ she finished with a question and let her old subordinate provide an answer to it.

"Because they're bad at fighting, I guess? They know I'm much stronger than them."

 _"True to some extent, Grora, but that's not the reason. You see, Ater and Arbus have been feeling remorseful about your eye and are repentant because of what happened—what Ater's done by accident. In spite of the fact they were forgiven by others over the passage of time who realized they didn't mean for what happened to happen, they cannot forgive themselves. Maybe they did to some degree over time, but the fact you still don't forgive them still infuses some guilt in them."_

"So you believe I should forgive them?" Grora inquired, to which Robin nodded. Sighing, the living angelic lady looked out to the pasture again and shut her eye. "It's not that easy, Robin."

 _"At times it is, other times it's not; this is one of the latter cases,"_ her friend remarked with a hand on the other angel's shoulder. _"Only you can make that decision, Grora, and even if you're still upset about it, you don't have to force yourself to accept it if you're still unsure about it. Still, forgiveness can go a long way towards comforting you by freeing a grudge's weight off both your shoulders. Remember, a grudge can be felt by one person just as much as it can affect a group like True Light. They held a grudge against those they believed were the real culprits, unware actions of malevolent quality were actually portraying themselves as wrongdoers instead of noble souls. It is comforting to let go of one, for relinquishing it frees the burden by clearing it away for good. That being said, there are other ways of handling the problem besides forgiveness; unfortunately, they only mitigate the issue for some time until guilt eventually prevails once more until you could bring yourself to forgive offenses committed against you and others close to you."_

"Maybe…" Grora murmured, understanding where Robin was coming from despite being unsure about that. "You could have a point about that, Robin, though how does it distinguish what is different between the last fight Ater and I had and the bullying I've apparently been doing?"

 _"Simply put, if Ater were to defend herself against you when being bullied by you, that does not necessarily fit the description of a fight. She could protect herself and Arbus verbally or block your blows even if she doesn't outright attack you in retaliation. She and Arbus know that's wrong because it can only make the conflict escalate further. When we examine her treason, we will find that it provides a much stronger motivation for the fight to be valid regardless of whether she must win or lose. Ater was well aware it was criminal and wrong, yet she pursued the objective anyway because she felt doing so would give you the proper justification needed to fight her. Therefore, a conflict like that would've fit the bill since she purposely committed a crime to start the fight. Had that reason not been present, it wouldn't be a fight so much as it would be a brawl with nothing to support why said brawl was enacted. Motivation is the element here, Grora, for Ater is aware that she'd need to give you that in order for the justification to be proper and just as such."_

"But why not simply find some other way of fulfilling that? Why turn her coat against this whole world for the sake of proving me the proper justification needed to beat the shit out of her? I've got plenty of motivation for beating the shit out of that little bitch already, Robin."

 _"Because there was hardly any other means necessary, aside from theft of course,"_ Robin answered that inquiry for her and proceeded to provide further clarification. _"That being said, you do lock your bedroom door and windows at night to prevent them from getting in. Even were they to successfully accomplish that, it'd be quite difficult to achieve entry into your room without your alertness to their presence. Ergo, theft would be out of the question. You could also say assault on your person is another possibility, though that too wouldn't really make sense because of what we already discussed about their remorse. They would never want to attack you without purpose. The accident in which you lost your eye happened long ago, so the motive would need to be fresh."_

"And you believe betraying our world was the only necessary way of accomplishing that?"

The spiritual angel nodded. _"Indeed, even if it's an extreme method of going about that."_

"And that extremely drastic decision is the reason why I won't forgive her," the other angel remarked without hesitation, still determined to never let her unhealthy grudge against the cat girl die even though it seemed to have toned down slightly. "Believe me, Robin, those girls don't stop to consider the consequences of their actions or even think about whether the outcome they expect will arrive as planned. Ater doesn't even know if the lich demon and Soa are helping her or not."

 _"Maybe so since you do have a point about that, Grora, but keep in mind that even though that matter's still unclear even to me, it doesn't change the fact that Ater needed to try. While you are right those two may be unreliable, that's only because of Soa's previous actions. Those served to produce and develop an opinion of her alone for the most part as you haven't met the other until very recently. You have no evidence against them in this regard, but there's plenty against Soa as she was responsible for the Doppelganger Murders. Those bear no correlation to this incident due to the entirely different scenarios in which you encountered her, though her presence with the lich demon is certainly enough to reinforce that aforementioned perspective. The reason why has to do with the concern and fear of what they might be planning next, something you don't know about."_

"Right," Grora concurred with a nod, gently fiddling with one of her pigtails. "There is not a single shred of anything pertaining to what they could be up to. It's why this concern is valid."

 _"Exactly,"_ Robin pointed out, holding an index finger out to her. _"Now let me ask you this next question, Grora: what evidence do you possess—pertaining to this recent case of course—that portrays them in the perspective that they are indeed going against the Gray Garden?"_

Grora frowned, knowing where her old friend was going with this inquiry. "Nothing."

 _"Then what, aside from the concern, is stopping you from going forward with this? What's preventing you from taking the chance to determine if those two are being truthful or deceitful?"_

Shutting her eye, Grora sighed. "Nothing," she repeated her previous answer, though she'd come to better understand this. "You're right fear inhibits us from investigating that. We have so little information and cannot comprehend what they've been doing. Our concern is that they may be a danger to our world. Although we've nothing really concrete or abstract to back that notion up, we must consider the safety of innocent people and civilians. Their lives and protection must come first, hence why we're reluctant to proceed so long as they and the world we all inhabit is in the line of possible fire," she explained clearly so her old friend could understand where she was coming from when taking that concern into consideration. "That's why it's hard to really act well."

Robin smiled warmly at her. _"That's a good answer, Grora, one I feel you understand well. You may not like Ater and Arbus, but at least you've got the lives of others as a top priority. While I can see you'd rather not take any chances with the people taken into account, the same could be said for Ater to some extent. From what I've seen while in the afterlife, she has asked Siralos if he could spare her sister and the citizens from his wrath. Although you can make the case that he can go against his word as he did in fact give it to her, it does not mean she did not think of the people and their welfare. She had no choice but to place her trust in him, hoping he'd fulfill that term."_

"So it's true," the living angel commented since she heard of Ater's testimony. "He did say to her he'd spare them and pledged his word to her. Odd for somebody like him, though nevermind that." Grora simply shrugged and closed her eye, shaking her head in slight disbelief even as Robin already confirmed it. "Granted, it'll be hard to prove the testimony of a spirit like you without any solid evidence because we only have your word for it. I for one believe you, Robin, but others may need further proof that will convince them otherwise. In other words, it's off the record for now."

 _"True, testimony must be supported by evidence if it's to be proven true,"_ Robin concurred with her on that. After all, it was one of the crucial lessons she hoped to teach her old subordinate about in this discussion. _"That goes for everyone and everything, Grora. Although what may be a bad action is considered bad from the looks of it, we must comprehend the motive too in order for us to determine whether the individual believed it was the right thing to do for one cause even if a negative reaction was far more powerful than the benefit intended to be gained from it. Analyzing motive can help build the foundation for potential theories that could support and be supported by solid proof."_ With that said, Robin finished their discussion and breathed deeply, thankful she had the opportunity to spend time with an old friend of hers. She could tell Grora felt the same way as the live angel turned to look at her with a warm smile of acceptance on her face while placing one of her arms around Robin to embrace the ethereal angel in a hug. Robin always knew how to make things better, something Grora learned from the times they spent together during the horrible war.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," she remarked and averted her attention back to the plains. "It must be your way of telling me to at least consider giving those girls a chance to do some good."

 _"You could say that,"_ Robin smiled at her. _"However, it is still ultimately up to you, Grora. Whether you decide to forgive Ater and Arbus and choose to take chances with the lich demon and Soa is your decision to make. Only you can determine if you truly want these things to occur."_

"Maybe you're right, perhaps I should tone down on my actions towards those cats," Grora commented by directly alluding to the cat demons. "Don't get me wrong, I won't ever forgive the little shits for everything they've done, but I can stop beating them to death. I don't tolerate either of them, but that doesn't mean I can't be the bigger person in all this. Am I right, Robin?"

 _"That's what you believe, Grora, and I think it's a step in the right direction. While I don't really think refusing to acknowledge their presence is good, at least it's better than those beatings you deal unto them. I'll not force you to accept such matters any other way because how you make the choice to handle them and also how you do handle these things is up to you alone. Even if there is something or someone who can give you input and possibly influence your choices, they're yours to make and regulate how you see fit in accordance to what you personally believe, Grora."_

"Yeah, I guess that's true…" the living angel murmured and looked back at Robin because she wanted to embrace her in another hug. "Thank you, Robin, for being such a close friend to me even if you've already passed on. I'm glad to have had the chance to talk like this like old times."

 _"As am I, Grora,"_ Robin murmured, returning the gesture. _"We may not be able to see one another often unless it's in dreams like this, but I shall always have your back in this day just like in the war. I'm sorry I cannot stay for much longer since you've got to wake up soon; after all, the time spent in a dream can go by slower or quicker than in the waking world."_ She smiled, drawing away from Grora as she continued speaking to her. _"Before I go, however, what's next for you and the others? Where will you proceed from here regarding Siralos' invasion and those other two?"_

"We don't know where the hell the lich demon and Soa went and we've hardly got anything about them and what they're up to like we already spoke up. We're still concerned with them even though the Sun God's invasion was thwarted for good. Well, Lenny was interrogated by Sir Devil and Head Angel, and we got some good information from him. We'll see where to go from there."

 _"I see,"_ Robin responded before giving Grora one last hug. _"Well, in any case, I wish you all luck from here on out. You've no need to be concerned with Hastur, at least for the time being since he went back to the Sun Heaven with Siralos. His fate is no longer in your hands unless he's still planning on coming back to attack again. Other than that, good luck and goodbye, my friend."_

"Yes, thank you…" Grora murmured and hugged Robin too before the dream ended. "You have my thanks and my best wishes too, Robin. You always were a good friend to me. Goodbye." And with that said, the angelic lady woke up to the sound of songbirds outside her window. Their musical chirping was comforting as were the rays of the sun on this clear day. Sitting up in bed as she stretched her arms in the air and yawned, Grora felt very refreshed for once in her life. Turning to the window and opening the shutters, she watched the clear, blue sky in a half-lidded expression that displayed a small smile as she thought of her dream with Robin. "Come back again, Robin. You're always welcome to come and visit whenever you wish. I'll keep my dreams open for you."

…

"You called?" Hastur asked as he stormed into the court after having kicked the door in as usual. "What the hell is it this time, Siralos? Going to whine over your recent pathetic failure?" Its bitter phrasal in the manner in which this insult was expressed irritated the Sun God he addressed.

"Hold your tongue, Hastur, it is nothing as petty as that," the Sun God remarked bitterly.

"Then why the hell would you summon me?" the angel demanded when an advisor spoke.

"You were ordered to be silent by Lord Siralos! How dare you show insolence to him!"

"Like I give a shit, I don't even serve the bastard," Hastur retorted with an insult to Siralos. It was rude of him to blatantly do so in the God's presence as the Sun Court was immediately quick to remind him. The angel merely shut his eyes and growled, crossing his arms while Igls Unth's longswords materialized from sunlight flowing through her body while she directed them at him.

"Such insolence!" she shouted at him and held one blade horizontally close to her chest as she held the other one back with the tip of the sword pointed at him. "For too long you have shown much disrespect towards our God with no decorum for serving his will! You have not known your place in this heaven, nor have you even acknowledged Lord Siralos as superior in every capacity! I will no longer tolerate your callous behavior, Hastur, and I shall cut you down here and now!"

"Bring it instead of monologuing, you bitch," he challenged her and drew his katana, ready to cut down the whole lot of this court. He didn't bother to speak any further, watching while Igls Unth gritted her teeth in annoyance and prepared to charge him, though she was held by Siralos.

"He shall face justice soon enough, my daughter. Why speed matters up when we can toss him into a dungeon of sorts?" the Sun God inquired, merely raising a hand as he sat on the throne. "The man's skills in combat are still useful, and I've yet to even address the subject of the summons due to his instigation of a conflict I shall not stoop so low to partake in. Understand, everyone?"

"But of course, Lord Siralos, my apologies," Igls Unth apologized, but kept both weapons at the ready in case Hastur attempted to begin fighting by using this abeyance to his advantage. "I will still remain prepared in the event he follows through with physical attacks against the court."

"Certainly, it is a most welcome precaution and you are forgiven as well," Siralos stated to her and averted his attention back to the angelic man he sought to address. "The invasion was only a failure due to the fact that Ater must've been discovered too early, thus garnering attention from the Goddess and Devil. Her incompetence in that regard is in fact her fault. Were she present before us as you are now, I would promptly renegade on the arrangement I made with her. Yet she is not and is still in the Gray Garden, so I shall instead address the issue I have with you, Hastur."

"The Lebabylonian Blade…" Hastur guessed correctly, figuring Siralos learned he stole it.

"Correct, I have recently discovered you did steal this artefact from the temple where each and every forbidden weapon in this world is kept. I thought you might try to take it by force, hence why I improved the security there. Unfortunately, it appears your skills have been used against this world as all of the paladins and clerics I assigned to guard the temple have been found dead. Only the Lebabylonian Blade, a terrible weapon designed for a demon or Devil who hoped to slay myself or any other individual in my position, was taken. It was won in a victory over demons in the Battle of Lebab, a critical turning point in a past war undertaken against the demonic scum in the Flame Underworld. It was a grand achievement, for the Tower of Lebab they've constructed fell, never to be rebuilt for the purpose of invading this glorious heaven and the mortal plane we rule over."

"Just cut the damn history lesson already, Siralos," Hastur demanded. "It bores me."

"Does it now?" the Sun God presented a minor challenge to him, scowling somewhat since he disliked the angel's tone of voice. "After all, we know you were the one who stole it right before you were sent out to scour the region around Blancblack Castle and Gray Village for suitable spots to set up portals. I've had my forces search every nook and cranny of this heaven for the weapon's presence, yet it was not found which leads me to suspect you turned it over to the Gray Garden."

"So? What difference does that make?" Hastur inquired coldly. "Yes, I stole it to give that blasted blade up," he then admitted it because he didn't care what they thought about him. "You're just a pain in the ass who deserves to die just because you're inferior to me in every way, Siralos."

"I presume by that remark you are admitting to playing both the Sun Heaven and the Gray Garden against one another to eliminate both institutions at once and attempt to clean up whatever is left of us," Siralos surmised correctly as the angel nodded to confirm the statement's validity. "I suggest you retract all previous statements not just from this assembly, but all assemblies you have attended, along with your foolish ideas lest you incur the sun's wrath upon you as Ivlis has. To be fair, your proposal of becoming the God of Existence is the only ideal worth striving for since I'm going to be the one who achieves that position instead of you, for you do not deserve it, Hastur."

"Prove it," Hastur challenged him and raised his katana, already sick of the court's affairs. He despised how Siralos stole his idea and sought to use it for himself. Such insolence on the Sun God's part, for the angel was the only individual in existence—in his own mind—who believed it was a position only he was rightfully entitled to because everyone else was quite inferior to him.

"You would dare test my tolerance and patience for you?" the Sun God asked rhetorically. He looked over to Igls Unth and she nodded, preparing her longswords to fight off the other angel with him. However, he merely raised a hand to steady her and she lowered her weapons since she knew he preferred to handle this himself. "Very well," he sighed in irritation, "so be it, Hastur."

Raising his arm as an orb of sunlight appeared in it, Siralos prepared to unleash a powerful spell upon where Hastur stood when a guard suddenly emerged through the doors, panting heavily from probably having rushed up to see the Sun God. "M-Milord, forgive the intrusion! We've got a serious threat on our hands! Two intruders have breached the entrance to the Sun Tower!"

"Oh?" Siralos lowered his arm and dispelled the magic temporarily to hear the report. "Two lone intruders? Surely you should not be too worried about a pair of would-be assailants? Besides, like you said, there's only two of them." He merely shut his eyes and brushed the threat aside with a wave of his hand. "Let the Elite Tower Knights handle them; they are of no concern to me."

"B-but Milord!" the messenger stuttered, evidently in shock. "T-they've appeared from out of nowhere and just started slaughtering all those who would oppose them! T-they've already taken the first five floors by themselves and are heading this way! P-please, Lord Siralos, we request aid for the troops! The threat is turning direr by the second!" He was trembling all over, and the grave fear he felt only garnered a frustrated sigh from the Sun God who disliked this interruption. As for Hastur, the man just clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and observed the report being delivered without commenting on it because he thought about how to use this to his advantage.

"Fine then, warp a contingent of soldiers from the army in," he instructed when somebody else rushed into the court. It was another messenger, and he too was scared and panting heavily as if he too had also been hurrying here to deliver a different, or similar message to the Sun God.

"L-Lord Siralos, sir! Grave news: the intruders reached the eighteenth floor!"

"What?" Siralos questioned the validity of his report, wondering how two foes alone made it that high without any support. Watching the Sun God directing his attention to these messengers, Hastur merely walked out without saying another word. He ignored the rest of that meeting because he didn't care about it, though he did think about letting the trespassers take care of Siralos for him even if they couldn't defeat him. So long as they weakened him and his forces, Hastur could move in to wipe them out himself. "Two intruders alone managed to go that far? Impossible, they would have had to warp there in an instant. That was their mistake, for they shall be flanked by—"

"I-I beg your p-pardon, s-sir, b-but they didn't warp there! They fought through everyone! There are literally no survivors from their rampage since they spared nobody! Everyone's dead!"

"Everyone?" the Sun God pondered who they could've been once the second messenger's statement was finished. If the enemies were indeed that powerful and merciless, it stood to reason that they were Devils since only Devils could have made it that far in the Sun Tower. Siralos didn't like this abrupt interruption, figuring it must've been two of the more powerful ones. He knew for a fact Ivlis was much weaker than him, so it might've been a combination consisting of the strong Devils from other worlds like Satanick, Vicers, Reficul, or Rosaliya just to name several examples. Perhaps even Kcalb had partnered with another Devil as revenge for the failed invasion. "Tell me, who were these foes? Describe their appearance for me, so I may better know who they are."

"W-we've identified one as a powerful lich demon! A-a female, s-sir!"

"A female lich demon…" Possibly the very same lich demon Ater mentioned when they've made the deal to collaborate together in the invasion against the Gray Garden. Siralos merely raised a bent finger to his chin and wondered how an undead girl like her managed to clear eighteen floors in the Sun Tower. Surely she must've accrued at least some damage with her companion. "I believe that would the one the cat demon spoke of when we met in the Gray Garden during my trip to raise the moral of our strike force. Was the cat demon—by the name of Ater—accompanying her?"

"A cat demon?" the second messenger asked rhetorically and shook his head. "N-no, s-sir, the other intruder had bat wings and pink hair, and she wore a black dress," he replied when a third courier arrived in the court. Like the previous two, she was also out of breath from rushing over.

"M-milord, the intruders have massacred everyone up to the thirty-ninth floor and on it!"

"Wha…?" Siralos' eyes widened in surprised shock when he heard the unexpected visitors climbed much higher than he expected they would in such a short amount of time since hearing of their ascent to the eighteenth floor. The Sun Tower had fifty floors in total, and a large chunk had been cleared and bloodied by two unknown individuals, one of whom they knew via Ater's allusion to the lich demon. "That's impossible…" Gritting his teeth in anger, Siralos threw his arm out and gave an order to the messengers. "Warp the entire army in here at once! Do not let them proceed!"

"They shall go no further than they already have, Lord Siralos!" Igls Unth bowed and went ahead to lead the messengers out. She planned to go join the remaining guards who were still alive and lead them against this dangerous threat. However, that was when a fourth courier arrived and slammed the doors behind her. The sound of combat and screams of terrified anguish echoed and reached the ears of all in the court as Igls Unth addressed the new messenger. "Report, soldier!"

"M-milord, L-lady Igls Unth, our time is nigh!" she shouted fearfully. "Our enemies made it to this floor itself! They've breached the entire tower and are nearly finished killing everyone! I have seen the slaughter myself, they are indeed on this very floor and are on their way here!" She'd have continued her report which had already begun to worry Siralos and everyone else in the court. Unfortunately for her, tendrils suddenly burst through the door and yanked the frightened lady out into a foul darkness which fully engulfed the entire chamber immediately. All they could hear was her cries for help before the noise of the messenger's body being ripped apart and eaten whole had started to plague their ears. Everyone silently watched nervously as the two intruders emerged.

 _"My, my, what a tasty delicacy…"_ the pink haired demon cooed sadistically. _"A lot of well-made dishes in this joint, big sis…Can we bring back leftovers for later?"_ she asked curiously.

"Not this time, Soa," the lich demon replied, observing everyone's timorous reactions due to her companion's cannibalistic phrases which followed the death of that messenger. "We arrived merely to give them the first and only warning they shall receive from us." Her words sounded as if she and the other demon were threatening the entire court. The theory was rather obvious because these girls just finished massacring everyone else in the Sun Tower up to this point, most likely as their intended victims who would receive that warning were the only survivors left alive now. The notion subdued many of those in the Sun Court, including Siralos himself since he was still rather surprised at the speed in which these girls brutally murdered all of the other subordinates. Though he himself was briefly left in a state of surprised shock, Igls Unth overcame her fear to direct those longswords of hers at the two intruders who merely gazed at her presence without concern for her.

 _"Then can I at least still have fun killing these guys?"_ the one called Soa asked, purposely making puppy dog eyes in an attempt to acquire an approval from the lich demon. _"Pleaaaaaase?"_ The cute tone of voice she used which scared the Sun Court because it sounded creepy too simply made the other girl smile fondly at her while shutting the only eye she had and chuckling softly.

"Some of them, Soa, we don't want you suffering from indigestion," she answered, saying that as if it was the only thing that worried them. Yet it only made Soa happy since she got her fun.

 _"Yaaay!"_ she cheered, tendrils erupting from her hair and back. _"I'll save what remains of those who die so we can snack on them as we depart together, big sis. What do you say to dessert?"_

"Certainly," the lich demon remarked when Igls Unth shouted aggressively at them.

"How dare you assault our grand citadel and breach the greatest monument to prestigiously grace our world while threatening Lord Siralos! You shall not pass, for I will slay you here where you stand, diabolic scum!" She charged right at them, flying in the air with her longswords pointed directly at the two foes, prepared to slice and pierce each of them, one longsword per enemy. While it initially appeared she would be successful as she was the Commander-in-Chief of the Sun Army, Soa's tendrils merely shot forward and ripped into the angel. Although she struck first, her blades smashed against the tendrils and broke into little particles of energy prior to being pierced by those tendrils. Laughing manically, Soa slammed her into a wall and then into the floor to injure her. An awful lot of blood was vomited up when the poor angelic woman puked due to the gaping hole in her torso, left behind after Soa retracted her tendrils from Igls Unth's crippled form and laughed.

 _"Piss off, maggot! Big sis wants a word with ol' sunny boy over there!"_

"I won't let you!" one of the other military leaders got in their way, drawing a lance made out of energy from sunlight like the longswords Igls Unth wielded. He charged the lich demon too, but a flick of her hand just made his whole body explode into gory pieces she casually strode over.

"Begone…" she demanded in an authoritative voice that oppressed the entire court prior to immediately appearing before Siralos to stand over him as the other girl continued a playful killing spree while the lich demon addressed the Sun God. "I shall allow no one else to interfere. You _will_ hear me out and you _shall_ listen to what I have to say. We have come to address the matter of your hostility against us after what your troops have done as they tried to initiate a failed raid on us."

So that was what happened to the strike force in the Gray Garden. These two killed them.

"How dare you…" Siralos growled at her, beginning to regain some composure to convert it into anger towards these two girls who came in unannounced and began a horrible killing spree. He hated them for having the audacity to assault them successfully up till now, and threw his hand out to initiate his most powerful spell, a concentration of energy from the sun focused into a single space such as the spot this lich demon stood on. Its power would've created a pillar bathing her in sunlight, reaching up all the way to the sun in order to immolate her by burning her whole. "I shall not tolerate this disrespectful interruption, especially from a lich no less! You came far, but your journey ends here! Face the wrathful justice of the sun and suffer before it, you wretched cur!"

Pausing in her slaughter, having chosen to leave Igls Unth and some advisors still breathing where she left their bodies, Soa heard the sound of sunlight beaming down onto her older sister as she turned to watch it. It did not worry her since she actually smiled and clapped her hands together in amusement, knowing something these stupid fools were ignorantly unaware of. Minutes passed and she kept observing the pretty sunlight as it pierced the darkness that blanketed the chamber. A short amount of time later, the pillar dispersed as all who lived gazed upon what was left of Siralos' strongest attack in his arsenal of light magic derived directly from the sun itself…and gasped—but not Soa since she was already well aware of the outcome and became pleased with how it went.

There, standing where she had been since imposing her presence which towered above the Sun God still seated on his throne, was none other than the lich demon herself. Everybody was so shocked at how alive and well she was because Siralos' magic—again, it had come right from the sun itself, thereby being the most powerful magic in their world and maybe other worlds too—had absolutely no effect on the lich demon. She still stood there, the attack having done absolutely no damage to her aside from simply warming her up. Her live presence horrified the court, suddenly realizing she was no ordinary foe they failed to handle. "That's all?" she inquired, unimpressed by the level of high quality magic in that spell. In spite of his attempt to speak, Siralos was completely baffled and didn't respond since he was so shocked. The lich demon accepted his befuddled silence as an affirmative 'yes', seizing his face in her hand. "My turn…" she murmured and right away projected terrifying visions of civilizations primordially eldritch compared to ancient civilizations in this world, and frightening beings that inhabited it and were far more powerful and superior than deities and Devils in his mind. Left unable to fight back against seemingly unending barrages of visions, he couldn't help but scream in agonizing fright with his eyes wide open. He saw everything she showed to him, the horrifying truth of it all subduing him completely in pure, absolute fright.

More minutes passed, and finally the lich demon ended the torturous torment she inflicted upon the Sun God. In that brief amount of time, his hair had completely turned white and his whole face was wrinkled from psychological fear. His pupils were dilated and he breathed heavily, having entered a deadly panic attack that made his heart race while he breathed heavily in short bursts. A horrible state of fear, so to speak, one he would never recover from even if he did regain some bits of his sanity even though the entirety of it was completely obliterated. Unfortunately for him, she'd only just shown him visions and proceeded to seize his collar next to drag him towards the center of the Sun Court. Holding him up, she showed Siralos the terrifying presence of their master since he had also come to deliver the warning they sought to give him and the entire Sun Heaven. Seeing the gargantuan creature above them with its tentacles bursting throughout the darkness, the poor Sun God just screamed in terror again as the lich demon tightened her grip without letting go.

"There," she murmured threateningly. "We shall not come back to repeat ourselves, for if we do, the entire heaven falls." She got right in his face to glower at him. "Remember this:" she went on, "you shall not attack us anymore, or else the three of us shall tear the shrouded veil over that which you call your sun to reveal what's truly within it. Are we clear, Sun God?" Her question merely received a timid nod from him prior to her letting Soa slam his pitiful body into the floor with her tendrils. She laughed, giving inner organs and limbs to her older sister who accepted them wholeheartedly to bite into the gory pieces as her dessert from the pink haired girl's slaughter.

 _"Man, what a joke you are, sunny boy!"_ she insulted him viciously. _"All that power and it turns out to be nothing more than a mere sliver of the smallest microbe of that thing's life leaking through the shrouded veil from time to time on random occasions! Such a stupid rite of passage!"_

"I wouldn't even call it a rite of passage," her companion murmured in agreement. "It is a truly random occurrence. Why he was still allowed to maintain a grip on some life in the shrouded veil is a mystery, though it does not matter." Turning to leave through darkness from which they've come, the lich demon averted her attention to Soa. "Come, Soa, it's time for us to depart now."

 _"Back to home sweet home, right, big sis?"_ the other demon asked and embraced her older sister in a hug, rubbing her cheek against the lich demon and sighing happily. _"Ah, you really smell and feel so nice, warm, and toasty, big sis,"_ Soa cooed affectionately and looked up at her as she'd begun to grin widely, putting forth a request she wanted the lich demon to grant. _"Snuggle time?"_

The lich demon shut her eye and smiled affectionately at Soa. "Snuggle time," she parroted the words to give her approval as the two of them left the Sun Court in complete disarray by going out as darkness engulfed them whole, leaving nothing behind as they disappeared with it. Although the chamber was perfectly fine prior to their appearance, it was now bloodied from the deaths Soa caused. Only a select few including Siralos and Igls Unth were left alive, but the Sun God suffered the worst of it because of everything he'd seen. Luckily the rest of them didn't see everything due to their eyes being closed, so they were spared the horrors shown to Siralos and stayed fully sane.

Feebly crawling over to her father and cradling him in her arms, Igls Unth looked up at one of the survivors to give an order. "Get the medical unit up here, ASAP! Lord Siralos needs help!"

…

 **It's been a while since we've seen Robin. While she did have big role to play as one of the animatronics in** _Seven Nights at Clarabella's_ **, I also wanted to include her in** _Atonement_ **as well because I think she fits well in her capacity as a spirit advising Grora. While she may be more of a minor character in this story, I believe she does help it develop even this late in the tale. After all, she and Grora are still close to some extent, so it felt alright to include her.**

 **Siralos won't be a problem anymore, at least in this story. Thankfully the lich demon and Soa took care of him and Igls Unth along with the other sun angels, so he shall no longer be a threat to the Gray Garden. I can confirm that much based on how this chapter ended.**

 **The Lebabylonian Blade and the subsequent event and place—the Battle of Lebab as well as the Tower of Lebab—were all based on the Tower of Babel, along with the civilization we know as Babylon as evident in the blade's title. It features in the Book of Genesis, mainly the Tanakh that explains the origins of this structure. According to this tale, the Tower of Babel was constructed after the Great Flood when people wanted to speak a unified language and built it in Shinar. Upon viewing the Tower of Babel, God made their dialect so complex that it was broken up into different languages which forced people to separate. This structure was similar to the Etemenanki, a Great Ziggurat of Babylon that was ordered to be built by Babylonia's king, Nabopolassar, as homage to Marduk, a Mesopotamian god. An interesting fun fact about the Tower of Babel is that the Stone Tower from Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, is similar to it. According to the Termina's Tower of Babel theory, the Stone Tower was built to reject the Goddesses of Hyrule and the Triforce. I thought this was an interesting concept to base something off of, so I decided to construct this bit of non-canon lore and also base it on the Tower of Babel and Babylon while looking to Majora's Mask as inspiration too. Also, Lebab is backwards for Babel as a reference to the Tower.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask; it's owned by Nintendo.**


	16. Chapter Sixteen: Lenny

Running a hand through locks of his black hair, the lone sun angel sighed as he observed his appearance in the mirror. The first time he'd actually seen himself was during the day he finally gave in to the authorities after being interrogated by Kcalb and Wodahs. He never opened his eyes in the Sun Heaven because it was a cultural aspect the Sun God enforced to ensure his followers were completely faithful to him. The idea was religious, yet it was not a good idea because it meant Siralos preferred obedience over faith. That faith wasn't faith because it was blind, demonstrating that the sun angels seemed to be nothing more than slaves to somebody who might've been using them instead of helping to preserve faith. Perhaps that was how Ivlis felt when he doubted Siralos, posing valid questions the Sun God refused to answer prior to casting him out of the Sun Heaven.

Gazing at his appearance, Lenny noted the green irises in his eyes as he looked down at the sleeve of the polo shirt he wore as part of his attire. These clothes were provided by the employees in the castle once they let him stay in an apartment here. His blue jeans went well with the magenta colored polo shirt, and he was grateful to the people of this world for sparing him. Still, he was an angel; even though he had come to like and tolerate the demons of this world along with the angels that cohabited it together in harmony with them, he felt he could not go against the natural law that claimed angels and demons were to be eternal enemies. These people were understanding and the Goddess and Devil even kept their promise to vouch for him and escort him to Justim's heaven to help him testify against Siralos' plans on invading the Gray Garden and attempting to use the world as a front against Fumus. First came a trip to that God's heaven to inform him of the threat before returning here and then leaving to go see Justim and acquire a position in another angelic military.

Stretching his arms in the air to rest them behind his head, the sun angel walked over to the window and looked out at the clear blue sky while reminiscing on the interrogation days ago. That was quite an eye-opener, the pun not intended in spite of how accurate it had been at the time. The remark Kcalb had made to him was still fresh in his mind. _"Look, Lenny, it's time to literally open your eyes. You say our world broke the natural law and we're not denying it because we accepted that. We prefer peace now instead of constantly fighting an unhealthy war all the time. Your claim is perfectly valid and we shall not argue against it, but all we ask is that you look at it to see what our society is for yourself. I'm sure Siralos told you the truth about it and you believed it since you are faithful to him. We're not questioning your faith, Lenny, just asking you to observe a truth you heard about to see it. Hearing it alone may suffice, but seeing will make believing more concrete."_

Even Wodahs had backed up that statement with his own explanation. _"Indeed, though let us ask you this question, Lenny: how do you know if what you've heard could be true or not unless you see it. Bear in mind we've no reason to plant doubts in your mind since it's not proper conduct. All we want to do is help you, but we cannot unless you testify by telling the truth. The decision to look at everything by seeing it is your choice, not ours since we can't force you. Although you may claim that question I've just asked is a doubt which contradicts my comment about not planting it and any other suspicions within you—and again, you will be correct about that—we feel it is quite a legitimate question because you've only heard about our world instead of actually seeing it."_

 _"Quite right,"_ the Devil had gone on further in that discussion. _"Yes, it is a contradiction; however, we cannot phrase it any differently which is unfortunate since it does hurt our point. We acknowledge it and hope you'll at least consider taking a chance to see our world with your eyes."_

 _"How do I know you're not just trying to make me betray Lord Siralos?"_ Lenny had asked. His concern was perfectly legitimate because he was a loyal soldier of the Sun God. He would've done anything for Siralos because he believed in him to the very end. Well, at least he had and still did to some respect even though he had come to disagree with the Sun God's decision to invade a world like this and also inflame another one against Fumus. His faith in Siralos was dwindling.

 _"We've no reason to turn you against the Sun God because we only want information. You will still be loyal to him; however, I can certainly imagine that providing us the information alone will be seen as treason. You shall be punished for it in his world, but not here since we can pardon your participation in his invasion of our world. You'll be free to go, and we can keep you safe here if he shall make an attempt to charge you for treason."_ Kcalb's offer was tempting while Lenny's common sense dictated to him not to accept. Yet the Head Angel spoke up to make another point.

 _"Besides, ask yourself this: would Siralos attempt to rescue you even if he knew you lived?"_

 _"He would,"_ the sun angel responded affirmatively, still believing in the Sun God.

 _"As honorable a decision that would be, consider the outcome. Say he does save you from our world,"_ the Devil raised yet another logical argument to make Lenny consider it. _"What would he do once you're safe and sound in the Sun Heaven: reward you for your service and commitment even in captivity, or punish you for failing to accomplish the objectives you and the squad you had been in were fulfilling? Although you're the only survivor from your squad as we believe the other thirty-nine members had been wiped out—mostly in that buried city, though two of our own fought against some of the remaining soldiers at your base camp—Siralos could theoretically know about your survival."_ The idea of his God coming for him pleased the sun angel greatly because it made him feel like his contributions were valued. Such a prestigious honor was special and made Lenny proud to be a sun angel in Siralos' forces. Unfortunately, he was well-aware that pride was thought of as a sin in some other worlds which helped plant the seed of doubt within his mind.

 _"But he doesn't because we've sealed off all the portals and kept more from spreading and establishing entrances to his heaven,"_ Wodahs went on, continuing the discussion by letting Lenny know why Siralos wouldn't come in this situation. _"He doesn't even know you survived due to the portals no longer being his accessible connection into our world. Even were he to be aware of the fact you lived, he most likely won't spend valuable resources and risk the lives of his army to save your life, Lenny. Remember, Siralos has to keep the faith of his people, and this scenario presents a crossroads as to how successful he'll be in maintaining and preserving it. Rescuing you shall be a great undertaking for that, but the lives lost to save just one whether there's confirmation about the individual's survival or not could portray this decision as a waste of time and effort depending on how long the conflict takes. Choosing not to means he'd throw your life away and take the risk of losing some faith; however, in the long run it could be a worthwhile decision because he would be sparing his people from a conflict they may not win. Even if they did secure victory, there could still be a high cost Siralos has to consider to decide if he wants to pay it or not."_ The logic he and his older brother espoused during that interrogation only made the sun angel continue to doubt his own faith in the Sun God. Yes, faith was a driving force of their world and their heaven. Losing it was detrimental to preserving order in the Land of the Sun, so that decision was bound to be harsh.

With the seeds of mistrust now firmly in place despite the fact he started to realize that the people of this world weren't trying to turn him against the Sun Heaven, Lenny thought hard about what his own decision would have to be. He couldn't disprove those notions the Head Angel along with the Devil had brought up when interrogating him. Their conduct wasn't a standard procedure followed in other worlds with one captor being the good guard and the partner being the bad guard. It was more sensible, something he never encountered before mainly due to the fact Lenny did not ever experience being interrogated—this was his first time—or had interrogated any prisoners. To be fair, he had heard about interrogations before, but never had any part in them. Considering how gentle those two have been with him, the sun angel imagined other sessions in other worlds could have been worse. He believed he was generally being let off easy in the Gray Garden.

Why that was had been a mystery to him at first, though he gradually understood this world really was peaceful and preferred the harmony between angels and demons instead of conflict they experienced in their world's past war. Yet he was still a loyal sun angel; however, Lenny opted for a compromise when he eventually decided to give these people a chance to see if they were actually peaceful inhabitants of a harmonious world or not. That was why he made the decision to do what was considered a severe religious taboo in the Sun Heaven: for the first time in his life, he opened his eyes to what this world was about and what it had to offer. Kcalb and Wodahs personally took him around Gray Village on a tour of the settlement and even showed him around the castle. Those two were even gracious enough to let him roam around freely to explore this place and gave Lenny permission to visit other towns in this world if he so chose to. Guards would've been provided as well to keep him safe in the event he got into a skirmish with any enemies, though they even gave him permission to wield a few weapons and wear armor if he wanted it. They were truly what they claimed to be: a peaceful population that welcomed anyone so long as otherworldly visitors didn't cause any sort of conflict. Lenny couldn't believe it at first, though he gradually accepted it.

He chose to give up any information they needed and did it willingly. The sun angel relayed Siralos' plans for invading this world after hearing about it from Hastur, but gave Hastur the chance to prove himself in the army after personally defeating him. Lenny told them about how the angel's skill in combat was on par with that of Igls Unth, the Commander-in-Chief of Siralos' entire army and the Sun God's daughter too. He also told them about the plan to invade Fumus' heaven which made them ask him if he'd be willing to go see that other deity with the Head Angel to speak with Fumus about that as a means of preserving the friendship between this world and that heaven. That much and more he turned over in his testimony to them, and he even agreed to see Fumus too.

Upon opening his eyes to this world, Lenny had changed somewhat. He still felt he couldn't go against the natural law of conflict between angels and demons, but realized not every world had to follow it. He began to tolerate these people at first, but slowly came to like them. However, the sun angel believed it was probably better to find another heaven to serve in because he felt slightly guilty about having betrayed his own heaven. Although he began to favor the Gray Garden, Lenny still wanted to join another military in some other heaven that would accept him. He was conflicted over following the natural law and opposing it, though he chose to make another compromise with that by finding a heaven that still kept demons in check even if the angels didn't actively oppose them all the time by taking a more lenient approach and getting active only when trouble emerged.

Finding comfort in the alternative as he was reminiscing over his decision, knowing he was now officially unable to go back to the heaven he called home, Lenny ambled over to the desk near the window and picked up a sun badge which had once been part of his uniform. This symbol and the others he received as merits for his contributions to the army and Siralos' order in the Land of the Sun had meaning when he used to work for the Sun God. They indicated how much faith he'd put into Siralos without questioning why. Now he understood why, having learned that Siralos was only concerned with faith so he could hold his position as a deity governing the Sun Heaven. That was the final nail in the coffin for his own faith in the Sun God, for it wasn't really all that pure as Siralos' true motive meant he preferred for his followers to keep their eyes permanently shut since it represented blind, unquestioning faith. Knowing this, Lenny realized he could never return home even if he wanted to; as a matter of fact, he didn't want to go back anyway because of that.

Averting his attention to the military uniform hanging up on a rack in the closet, he ambled over to it next and placed a hand on the knob to grip it. Staring at the uniform for a couple minutes, he shut his eyes and released a deep breath of relief while closing the closet door. Taking a satchel from the dresser which was filled with gold coins he received from Kcalb, the sun angel held it up and tossed the satchel in the air. Catching it, he next walked over to the door out into the corridor. Opening it, he stepped out and shut it behind him while removing a key from his pocket to lock it. He was now a former sun angel, one who had opened his eyes to the truth and accepted it without looking back on his old life because of what he learned. Reflecting on his life briefly, Lenny knew he made a better decision, one that had been the first he'd ever made in his life since Siralos made all the decisions regarding who did what in the Sun Heaven. He was a new man, and was happy.

Sauntering down the corridor towards an elevator, he saw a demon from the castle's faculty coming in his direction with a small stack of paperwork in her arms. "Good day," she greeted him cordially with a friendly wave and a smile. The gesture was unexpected from a demon, though he knew the demons of this world were friendly with angels due to their rather peaceful nature.

"Likewise," he responded back with a small smile of his own and returned the wave while also nodding. She passed by him without trying to attack him, and he let her go her own way since she had business to attend to. Furthermore, she was also unarmed despite the fact the demon might have known a bit of magic. Still, neither of them made any attempt to pick a fight. Arriving at the elevator after turning a corner, he pressed the call button to bring it up and waited until the elevator arrived and opened up before stepping inside and pressing a button for the lobby. He rode alone in silence for a bit until a light went on behind one of the floor buttons to indicate someone else called it to. The door opened again and Lenny found it was an angel he met while taking a stroll through the castle's garden. "Ah, good day," he greeted him with the same greeting he heard from the girl he saw a couple minutes ago. "Rorin, right?" he then asked to check if it was the other man's name and extended a hand to shake the other angel's which said angel accepted to return the gesture.

"Glad you remembered my name," Rorin commented with a smile. "Like the castle so far?"

"Quite impressive for a structure that was designed to just be simple," Lenny complimented Blancblack Castle in his answer, enjoying the company since he noticed Rorin was heading for the same destination, that being the lobby. "It's quite symmetrical in design and very colorful."

"That it is," the other angel remarked with a nod. "We do some renovations every now and then to update some stuff, though the framework is still pretty much the same even if changes have been made. Tell me, have you enjoyed your exploration of the castle and Gray Village?"

"As a matter of fact, I have, this place is quite intriguing for such an ordinary settlement."

"Even the plainest of things can be captivating when one finds an interesting aspect," Rorin agreed with the sentence Lenny made which the former sun angel murmured to concur with it. "It might not be an exciting lifestyle to some, I know, but we're content and quite happy with this life. Seems like you're enjoying it as well, so I presume you might find a place to stay here, correct?"

"It's a quaint world, Rorin, though I'm afraid I can't," Lenny replied honestly. "My choice to actually serve in another heaven's military is nothing against your world, but I will find a place that is lenient towards demons. The ones in the Gray Garden are very amiable and I am quite fond of them now, though I feel there must be something I can do to at least make sure demons in other worlds don't cause any trouble. I plan on serving in an army under a merciful deity, one who does not go all out against demons and Devils and only takes action when absolutely necessary."

"To each his own, I suppose, yet that is a fine choice, my friend," the other angel remarked and offered up a couple suggestions. "I heard Fumus and Justim are alright in that regard, so either of them can fit the bill quite nicely. Speaking of which, when do you plan on heading out to go see the former about warning him about Siralos' planned invasion of his heaven? Soon, right?"

"Yep, soon alright. Etihw contacted him the other day, but has yet to receive word. We are expecting Fumus to respond and we hope my old God hasn't begun the invasion against him."

"Yes, hopefully the Sun God hasn't moved forward with that other plan of his," Rorin said to echo the grim concern since he too hoped it wouldn't come to pass. "I can imagine what would happen were he to pursue it at any time. Fumus would probably get word out to Justim concerning Siralos' treachery which in turn could lead to more heavenly armies marching on the Sun Heaven. I don't believe they'd take his betrayal too kindly, and he most likely won't be able to handle many different military forces fighting on his doorstep, especially after what I heard from Mitchell."

"Ah, the monkey demon, right?" Lenny asked since he could also recall Mitchell from the other day as well. Not only had Mitchell introduced himself, but he also apologized for his role in the guild that caused critical damage to the Sun Heaven in the raids it suffered under. He explained he took no part in hurting the civilians and had even left the guild sometime after the raids occurred. It was one of the first things Lenny talked about with Mitchell when the monkey demon mentioned it, and he gave the sun angel time to think about what he'd do with that information. Mitchell said it was fine if Lenny didn't forgive him for being a member of that guild, though Lenny did ponder whether he should or not. In the end he chose to just let that grudge go and overlook it rather than harp on it. "Yeah, the Sun God wouldn't be able to defeat them all on his own," he continued with his side of the conversation as Rorin nodded to confirm the inquiry. "He may not like other deities and angels who don't actively fight demons, but he isn't unintelligent from what I know. He won't like having to acknowledge his defeat even if he's forced to because it'll make him look bad."

"It's one thing to preserve appearances; it's a different story with malevolent intentions."

"That's the point, and I can't believe I actually used to follow him. I mean, sure, it was nice to believe in him for a cause worth fighting for. Unfortunately, while the cause itself was just, that man wasn't now that I think about it—always leaving questions unanswered, claiming our world's sun was the only power worth serving with him as its primary representative in our heaven."

"With great power comes great responsibility, a lesson the Sun God might understand to a certain extent," Rorin commented casually, making eye contact with the other angel while he said that. "What he's doing for his heaven may be considered a form of justice by wielding his powers properly, but choosing to attack an ally like Fumus is clearly a misuse of those powers. You know, I suspect he might also go after Justim and some other deities as well since I hear they're easygoing to demons in their worlds even if they keep them in check by establishing strong borders between the heavens and underworlds. It's a theory, something I just thought up and plan to share with the others for their opinions. Theory or fact, I think Justim will act with at least a few other deities."

"I'm sure he will," Lenny concurred as the elevator reached the ground floor. "Invading an ally among the Heavenly Council will certainly get his attention, and he shall enforce the laws that were established to prevent deities from declaring war on each other. I learned that much during a session in one of the courses I took prior to being officially enlisted in the military, and yet what I did by participating in it—well, what else I could've done since I've already been a member of the strike force—seriously goes against that. Siralos teaches us this and wants to purposely break it, a concept I cannot agree with due to what it implies and will lead to later on. I'm glad to have gotten out of it before it was too late, though I feel sorry for those I once considered to be my comrades."

"Same here since I feel they're worthy of freeing themselves from an idea that shackles all of them down without their acknowledgement of it. They can redeem themselves like you've done by opening their eyes to the whole picture. At this stage of affairs, however, it could be difficult to break away from the Sun God since all the portals were sealed; plus they're most likely preparing another assault on us. Your former allies, friends, and family might still side with Siralos."

"They likely do, and I must admit it shames me to abandon them," Lenny confessed.

"Such a concern is perfectly valid, Lenny, and it may be considered wrong from several of the perspectives that apply to this situation," Rorin remarked with a nod of his head while the two of them stepped out. "With that mind, are you positively sure this is the path you want to take, my friend? Are you comfortable with freeing yourself at the expense of those you cherish within your heaven? Do you think there might still be a way you can save them or ensure they receive mercy?"

The former sun angel sighed, crossing his arms and shaking his head sadly. "I do not think they can be saved at this point unless I ask if they could be spared from a fate crueler than charges which may be levied against Siralos and my people. That's probably the best mercy I could acquire on their behalf." He displayed a small smile for Rorin, showing he cheered up to some degree. "I have given my actions and decisions careful thought, and I'm actually glad I'm no longer a member of the Sun God's army. So, to answer your inquiry, Rorin, I am comfortably positive with this."

Rorin smiled back at him. "I see, it's good to hear you gave it some consideration."

"Indeed. By the way, you're heading into the garden now, right?"

"Yep, my coworker friends and I are going to be doing some gardening. Why?"

"I planned on heading into Gray Village for a bit just to walk around for a while. Since you are going to be seeing Mitchell, could you just let him know I'm alright now concerning what that old guild he used to work for did to the Sun Heaven? I may not forgive that, but I can overlook it," he explained and quickly realized it was probably better to go see the monkey demon in person to say it personally. After all, Mitchell was honest and sincerely apologetic about that problem. While Rorin opened his mouth to respond, Lenny just shut his eyes and held a hand up to interject. "Now that I think about it, however, I believe I should tell him myself. That sounds better, right?"

Rorin simply smiled and nodded. "But of course, Lenny, if that's what you want."

…

His morning stroll through Gray Village had been a pleasant one. Sometimes he was in the company of individuals he stopped to have a brief chat with prior to heading elsewhere. At various other moments his leisurely walk was in quieter spots of the village like its clean alleyways. Even locations like Apple Park where he picked an apple and washed it in one of the outdoor basins was a quaint activity to partake in, and he sat on one of the benches dotting the place to enjoy the snack. Apple Park had become a favorite haunt of his throughout the past several days he remained within this world, though Lenny also especially liked the garden on the outskirts of town by the meadow. It was a quiet place, yet another favorite locale he came to enjoy while finding that some villagers loved the particular spot as well because of the flowers and the tranquil views of the area.

Although he didn't have time to visit other settlements in the Gray Garden due to that visit he'd have to pay to Fumus' heaven in the Pitch Black World with Wodahs, his time before it was not constricted in any way. That left his schedule open for anything, so Lenny used his time wisely by offering to help out with any tasks around the village and doing quests for the locals by teaming up with some adventurers and guards who also participated in these activities. These were simple jobs to bide his time and keep him busy, but he still made time for short breaks whenever need be.

Casually sauntering into a coffee shop near the residential district, he shut his eyes to take a brief whiff of coffee beans being ground up by the baristas working in a backroom as coworkers up front at the two registers took orders and gave them to the baristas. There were some waiters as well as waitresses too, so the former sun angel found himself a seat over in a booth and waited for one to come by him. "Black coffee," he said simply to make his order after reading a menu, "with a plain bagel, a bit of cream cheese on it too. Thank you." Setting the menu off to the side, he took a deep breath to savor the scent of this place while waiting for his light lunch to arrive. A bell that hung above the door to indicate when customers came in was a calm jingle to his ears, and he was not really expecting any visitors. Yet two particular individuals showed up and approached him.

"Hello and good day to you sir!" a cheerful voice spoke up beside him. Turning to face the speaker to give her a casual greeting, Lenny observed it was a girl he'd seen at the meadow garden. Her appearance had quite a sort of Christmas themed color scheme as her hair, wings, and tail were all green while most of her wings and the end of her tail were red like her eyes and the outfit she'd been wearing. Even part of her hair was also red. The girl's clothes consisted of a beret over a red horn—the other being visible—and a v-neck sweater over a white turtleneck shirt. In addition were the dark red leggings and red boots topped by white fur, plus she wore a gold cross necklace.

With this demonic girl was an angel, most likely a friend of hers who simply waved while humming a greeting. Her attire was more like the color of the ocean as apparent in her high collared dress and boots, though the former had cross patterns on it. There was a flowery hair clip too which matched both colors of her outfit. Her eyes were also blue, yet with a greenish variant to them. An interesting observation was the halo above her head as a possible preference for wearing it because Lenny did hear that angels in this world didn't have to wear their halos. She also had small wings, both on her back and the boots. Lenny had never seen her before, so this was his first time meeting her unlike the other girl whom he'd caught sight of in the garden. He hadn't introduced himself to these girls yet, though it seemed they might've heard about him as evident by their approach.

The former sun angel smiled back at them. "Good day to you too, girls. How might I be of service to you?" he asked, thinking they were wondering who he was and where he was from.

"Are you the sun angel?" the demon giggled and curtsied with the blond angel. "My name's Yosafire, and this Chelan. We've heard of a sun angel from the sun heaven staying in our world, and we were just curious about what he's like. We checked in at the castle, but found he left way before we got there; this guy's name is Lenny from what Froze said. Do you know him, sir?"

Ah, so they heard of him through a friend of theirs, one he also met before. His theory was proven correct and he had plenty of time to spare. Figuring he might as well indulge these two by answering whatever questions they had, he smiled to confirm the inquiry. "Looks like your search came to an end, Yosafire. I'm Lenny, the guy you girls were looking for. I suppose you wanted to see me about something, am I correct?" he inquired, wondering what they'd ask him about.

Yosafire's eyes lit up while Chelan hummed happily and shut her eyes. "Ah, you're him!" she excitedly said while they took a seat when he offered to let them have a seat at this booth with him. "Great, we've been looking for you all morning without luck until now! Oh, this is really cool hearing all about a heaven! I've so been looking forward to this ever since Froze mentioned you!"

"Just to be clear, girls, I don't know how much time I have available since I might have to leave at a moment's notice," he stated to clarify the amount of time he possibly had by citing what had been the reason for that. "I'm bound to be heading off to another heaven soon. The Head Angel and I will be meeting with another deity about the invasions that threatened your world and his."

"Then we'd better make this conversation count!" Yosafire beamed happily with Chelan's standard hum of delight. A waiter came by to deliver Lenny's meal and took the girls' orders also since they appeared to be staying for a little bit to converse with him. "She and I are together, we'll pay separately for our meals and so will he," she said to the waiter after ordering two cups of green tea for herself and the angel. "So, why did you turn against your heaven, Mr. Lenny?"

"Just 'Lenny' will be fine, Yosafire," the former sun angel first dropped the formal manner of addressing him prior to providing them an answer. "Though to answer your question, it basically had to do with the fact I began to realize that I was blindly placing faith in a deity I served. I guess you could say I opened my eyes to a much bigger picture than what I was led to initially believe."

"Blind faith?" Yosafire blinked, confused as to what he meant. "What, did you get into an argument with your deity or something? Did you not disagree with him? Who was he—Siralos, is that right?" So they were aware of who the Sun God was. Lenny suspected as much from them as the Sun Heaven's attempted invasion of this world made headlines in this world for quite a while.

"No, it wasn't anything of the sort. I was a member of the strike force already in this world. We were setting up the portals and I was later captured by the authorities and interrogated. Seeing as how things were rather pleasant in this world after the Devil and your Head Angel spoke to me and persuaded me to at least take a look around this place, I decided what I used to fight for wasn't really worth fighting for all that much to be honest," he explained briefly and then provided some additional clarification. "You see, girls, I still believe angels should prevent demons from causing chaos wherever they are; however, I'm actually quite fond of your world now because of the peace angels and demons share here. Once things settle down, I'll be searching for another angelic army to enlist in, one that is tolerant of demons, but keeps their malevolent designs from blossoming."

"You mean you can't stay?" the demonic girl asked, somewhat disappointed because she'd thought having an otherworldly individual become a permanent resident was nice and cool. "That's a shame, but at least you've got an idea of what you want to do. Best of luck to you in that endeavor, Lenny." Although she may have still felt a little let down by his decision to eventually depart their world for good, Yosafire gave him a smile anyway as she wished him good luck regarding that as Chelan hummed too which garnered a confused look from Lenny as he turned to the angel next.

"Ah, pardon me, she said your name's Chelan, right?" His inquiry received a quiet nod due to the girl choosing not to say anything, so he encouraged her to. "Don't be shy, you can speak."

"Ah, Chelan doesn't speak much at all, really," Yosafire piped up to talk for Chelan.

"Oh, might she be mute?" This next question might've come across as rude, but Lenny was genuinely curious because his tone displayed no malice, nor did his facial expression show anger.

Chelan shook her head while the demon answered for her. "No, she has a sweet voice, one that is probably a sound one rarely hears. She usually converses with her housemate, Dialo, rather than others—I'd say on a ninety-nine point nine percent ratio, I guess—but she does talk if rarely."

"Oh, well, nevermind then, I was just wondering why she wasn't talking too; anyway, carry on," Lenny urged Yosafire on with any more questions she and Chelan had about him.

"What's your old heaven like? We heard it's called the Sun Heaven, but why's that?"

"Mainly due to our power deriving entirely from the sun itself. It's a rather bright location, situated high in the clouds above the mortal realm. My world is known as the Land of the Sun due to how the sun is the driving force behind everything that functions, thus becoming the basis for a religious foundation. The religion is pretty straightforward as humans and angels base ceremonies and other activities on the sun's power, centering it as the focal point of the rituals they perform in addition to the prayers and sermons they speak. One rite in particular is a rite of passage where an individual is selected from among a group of candidates to succeed the deity; it is how Siralos was chosen to be the current Sun God, and he's been in power and maintained his reign pretty well."

"So, the sun affects everything in the Land of the Sun, huh? Is everything named after it?"

"Exactly," Lenny responded, taking a sip of his coffee when a waitress brought over those two cups of green tea the girls ordered. "From the Land of the Sun to the Sun God amongst several other key monoliths in our world, all of which were built by the residents of our heaven. Sometimes the humans in our world construct similar obelisks and other structures for purposes the sun angels had in mind, such as honoring us and the sun and also keeping demons and Devils out of the light. We've never shared the sunlight with anyone else in our world, choosing to keep those who didn't believe in its power or questioned who could partake in its glory like Ivlis out. I presume you heard of him before, the Devil who previously invaded your world from what I heard via colleagues."

"Know him?" Yosafire asked rhetorically and flicked her hand forward, briefly closing her eyes to rudely brush the Flame Devil's name aside since she hated him for that invasion. "Hell, we fought against him—well, Chelan and Dialo were not present for that even if they did see him with Etihw—but my other three friends and I took on that loser and kicked his ass big time before Etihw showed up to make him and his cronies flee with their tails behind their legs. Besides, the old man stole his power so he wouldn't be that much of a threat to us when we fought and beat him hard."

Assuming the old man the demon girl referred to was Kcalb since only Devils had abilities to steal magical powers from one another, a skill normal demons couldn't acquire until becoming Devils themselves through rites of passage, Lenny decided to move on with his explanation. "You girls must be quite strong if you were able to defeat the Flame Devil," he complimented them with a smile to show he was impressed by their accomplishment. He did hear from the castle staff about the four heroines who helped save their world. "Though to be fair, I believe he was one of the more recent Devils to seize power in the Flame Underworld, so he was most likely relatively new at the position which meant he probably didn't understand how to wield his powers effectively. Still, the victory over him was impressive nonetheless." He took a bite of his bagel while Yosafire posed an inquiry about Ivlis in spite of the fact she hated that guy, yet she wondered why he had that title.

"Why's he called the Flame Devil, Lenny? Does it have to do with the sun?"

"Not exactly, though it is related. You see, girls, I remember learning that Ivlis was once a great military leader under Siralos until he fell from our heaven. We were told that he posed several questions to Siralos on who the sun's power belonged to and who should've partaken in it, mainly due to the fact he wanted to steal said power for himself and rule. It's why he was cast out. Though it isn't why he's called the Flame Devil; that title comes from the hell in our world as it's referred to as the Flame Underworld. Demons there formed numerous factions to try and secure power and prestige for said respective factions by establishing leaders as candidates to be a Devil. They fought against one another in petty wars until one would reign supreme in victory over the others. It is how Ivlis ascended to power over them in combat to become the current Flame Devil we know."

"Huh…interesting," Yosafire remarked, sipping her green tea while Chelan also drank her own. Both of them were enraptured by the lecture this former sun angel was freely giving the two of them. "Do all deities and Devils have titles like Siralos and Ivlis, or are they the only two?"

"There are other deities and Devils with titles, sure. Want to hear a few examples?"

Chelan hummed and nodded with Yosafire. "Yep!" the demon beamed happily.

"Well, the God of all Gods is called Justim; he runs a democratic council of deities known as the Heavenly Council. His counterpart doppelganger is Vicers, the Devil of all Devils; he's one of the strongest Devils in the service of GriRea, the Queen of the Underworlds as the underworlds all follow the practice of feudalism," he began with two well-known individuals throughout some other worlds and also included the Queen herself when the girls' eyes lit up when he said her name.

"Oh, Macarona said she got to personally meet the Queen herself once! She even garnered approval from the Queen and a bunch of Devils and demons! Macarona's certainly become famous for associating with them as friends," the demonic girl remarked excitedly. "Though I don't really know who the other two are all that well, but I can ask Etihw and old man about them later."

"Is that so?" Lenny inquired rhetorically when he heard a friend of theirs curried favor with GriRea for her approval. It certainly impressed him to find the people of this world were full of an assortment of surprises ranging from those that were pleasant to ones that were somewhat odd. He made no further comment on it, but decided to put forth a pair of additional examples. "Well, you might not have heard of Justim and Vicers all that much, but you do know the Goddess and Devil of this world, so I'll talk about them. From what I heard about this world, it used to be in constant conflict, a war between angels and demons which followed the natural law dictating the two sides had to fight. My studies in the history of other worlds at the academy I trained at taught me several things about what this world formerly was until your people made peace. Back then it was known as the Colored Rainbow World as much of the cultural aspects were related to colors. For example, the deity and Devil themselves would always have to represent colors that contrasted one another. Etihw, for instance, is known as the White Goddess and Kcalb is the Black Devil. Conversely, the other deities and Devils before them contrasted as blue and orange, yellow and violet, and also red and green just to name a few examples. The color scheme of your appearance, Yosafire, is red and green—with the addition of some white mixed in—making for a grayscale much like this world."

"Yeah, we learned all about that in school, so we're familiar with the topic and how it does apply to the Gray Garden's history in addition to artistic subjects," Yosafire clarified that bit since she and Chelan did know about that already even if they appreciated the reminder. "I think it's an interesting application of combining art and history together. The paintings I paint generally depict historical settings and landscapes since those are my favorite sceneries in art. Pretty neat, huh?"

"Yes, it certainly sounds like it, Yosafire. You must have a lot of paintings in your house."

"Yep, and in the castle's museum of natural history which has displayed my portraits. You can find them there, and I can also show you some of the pieces I've got hanging up at home too."

"Sure, I'd like to see them sometime," Lenny remarked when the bell above the door rang to indicate more customers were coming in. It had been doing that during the conversation, though this time it was Kcalb who came in and approached Lenny when he caught sight of him sitting by Chelan and Yosafire. "Ah, Kcalb, didn't expect to see you here. Are you on break now by chance?"

"Kind of," the Devil replied as Chelan's cellphone vibrated in her pocket and she removed it to look at a text message she received while showing it to Yosafire. "But not really as well."

"Sorry, we've got to go now," the demonic girl explained politely to interject, finishing up the little bit of green tea in her cup as Chelan did the same. "Dialo's making apple pie and invited us over for some. It was a pleasure meeting and talking with you Lenny." Standing up, she and the angelic girl left the booth after waving goodbye prior to heading to the counter up front to pay for their drinks. "See you later, and if not, good luck finding another heavenly military to serve!"

"Thanks, you too, Yosafire," Lenny remarked, waving back at them while Kcalb sat down where the girls were while the angel turned to address him. "Has Fumus contacted us, by chance?"

"Indeed, he shall receive you and my brother as soon as possible. I sent word to him you'd both head out tomorrow when it's convenient, so I suggest you get ready for that in a little bit."

"Good," Lenny nodded with a smile, "it'd be nice to help him and you guys out."

Kcalb smiled. "Thank you, Lenny, you're a free man in our world," he stated comfortingly with a smile, putting a briefcase he carried with him on the seat beside him to open it up. Taking several documents out of it, he laid them on the table to begin working on them. "Unfortunately, I'm afraid I cannot speak for other heavens. Still, we've got your back, and will uphold our promise to vouch for you. And if things don't work out anywhere else, you're welcome to come back here."

Lenny smiled back. "Thanks, I appreciate it," he remarked when a sudden commotion from the counter seized their attention. Turning his head to look over there with Kcalb, the two men saw Yosafire and Chelan backing away nervously from a familiar white haired cat demon.

"I said piss off!" Ater shouted, enraged at the girls for bothering her even though Yosafire and Chelan had only given her a greeting while expressing their sympathy for her because the two of them hoped she'd feel better. "What part of that don't you idiots understand?!"

"Ater! Be nice!" the Devil called out to her in a chiding tone of voice that was still tender. She caught sight of him and merely whipped away in anger, growling while she muttered a string of curses under her breath. Feeling sorry for what just happened, Kcalb spoke up again to address Chelan and Yosafire. "Don't worry about her, girls, just give her some space. She needs it." Kcalb also turned to mention that to everyone else who was present for what just happened. "Please, that also goes for all of you as well if you'd all be so kind as to leave Ater be for now, okay?"

"Is she okay?" Lenny inquired out of concern for Ater. "This has to do with her parents, is that it? I overheard she'd made a deal with Siralos himself back in that basecamp we established."

The Devil merely nodded and frowned. "Yes," he answered in a somber tone, "it's certainly about them, alright. Ater's really upset over finding a possible lead and not being allowed to follow it. Everyone's concerned about her and worries she might be lied to about the issue; however, there could be a dark truth she might need to hear if whatever it is has come to pass, though it has to be broken to her gently so she isn't too traumatized about it. That strange lich demon you encountered down in the city with Soa and all those undead probably knows, but we can't be too sure unless an investigation is performed to determine their intentions and if they're being truthful or not."

"You're okay with her being out and about in Gray Village? Did you lift the house arrest?" the former sun angel inquired, concerned Ater's behavior in the castle would spread in the village.

"We let her off easy on that by paroling her much earlier than expected," Kcalb explained, "for we felt it was unhealthy for Ater to be cooped up all the time shirking her responsibilities out of anger. I believed it was better to chaperone her around Gray Village for a bit just to get her out. The issue of her parents has completely divided her and Arbus; her twin sister has been staying in Eti's room while Ater has the bedroom they both shared all to herself. It's tough for both of them."

"A real shame she can't pursue it in my opinion, but I do agree safety is a valid precaution," Lenny agreed with him on that. "By the way, that other girl with the lich demon was in a shop I've passed by a couple times so far, but haven't visited yet. You know she's there among you, right?"

"That would be Raspbel Preserves, one of our citizens. Soa's her doppelganger; the two of them look exactly the same except for the eyes and what each of them can do. Soa was responsible for killing several of our citizens and guards months ago last year while causing Raspbel trouble," Kcalb clarified for him regarding the doppelganger. "She's a threat not to be taken too lightly, for she is fully capable of actually taking down a deity and even a Devil—believe me, she nearly slew Eti in one hit." It was a chilling thought because of how powerful a seemingly ordinary demon had been. Prior perceptions of such a foe would've vanished in the face of a discovery like that.

"I'm sure she is, especially after what my old squad experienced down in that city," Lenny uttered, finishing his lunch and getting up to go pay the check. "Nice seeing you again, Kcalb. I'll be heading back to the castle now so I can begin getting ready for tomorrow's trip to see Fumus."

"Yep, you too, Lenny," the Devil replied with a smile, glad Lenny was on their side now.

…

 **Lenny may be a minor character, but I felt he could've used some development since he does have a role to play in this story, hence why I made the whole chapter about him.**

 **Also, I constructed more non-canon lore pertaining to the Gray Garden this time. As the Gray Garden is a cross between white and black, thereby being a grayscale, I decided to feature some other contrasting colors besides these two as well since they also produce some grayscales too. Furthermore, they can be spelled backwards the very same way the names of Etihw and Kcalb are backward spellings of white and black respectively. I know I probably didn't really use all the colors of a rainbow and included an extra one as well, but calling the Gray Garden the Colored Rainbow World as a reference to the world's past incarnation did sound quite fitting when I thought of it. Feel free to share your opinions about this idea.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this as I enjoyed writing it.**


	17. Chapter Seventeen: A Mournful Temptation

"Why…?" she murmured angrily, tightly clenching the covers of her bed in one hand as if she wanted to strangle them. In her mind she hoped in its place was one of the people who refused to give her the opportunity to hear about her parents. Etihw…Kcalb…Grora…even Arbus too. She hated them all for what they've done, turning down the deal she made and fulfilled by turning her coat against the Gray Garden. Yes, she acknowledged her treason as the wrong means of achieving her goal and they were right to punish her for that; though to go so far as to deny her what she and Arbus needed to hear was just wrong in her opinion. Ater didn't care if they wanted to understand what the lich demon's motives were in helping her because she made the deal and upheld her side of the bargain. It was Arbus' fault for breaking it by not following through on her end when Arbus didn't even have to do anything except listen. Ater did all the work for them both, Arbus did not.

"I-I've worked so hard…went against my own home world…for our sake…" Ater sniffed, tears pouring from her eyes onto the pillows. Her body was sprawled across the bed, attired in the pajamas she wore. The white haired cat demon gritted her teeth furiously, upset over the outcome of the deal that fell through the cracks to never be resolved because it was broken…by Arbus. Her twin sister dissolved the one lead Ater found that could've been truthful or perhaps a lie. Ater hated Arbus for that because the black haired cat demon refused to try, not even bothering to listen since that was all she was required to do. Arbus claimed she acknowledged any horrible facts that might have been true, but not trying meant she was running away from it. Yet the black haired cat demon denied the allegation, claiming Ater was running away from accepting those facts by trying to find out what happened to them instead of being happy. Her twin sister was wrong because Ater really considered them, but couldn't be happy unless she had confirmative closure Arbus didn't want.

"S-stupid Lady Etihw…S-stupid Lord Kcalb…" They were also to blame because of their reluctance to try as well. Granted, they did have a point about mistrusting the lich demon and Soa because of the latter's crimes during the Doppelganger Murders, but that didn't mean they couldn't try. If anything, that was also probably the only chance to determine what their intentions were by allowing Ater to hear about her parents. Now both Soa and the lich demon were gone, and nothing could be done about that. She had the chance, and everyone blew it for her instead of helping her.

"S-stupid Miss Grora…" Ater had done what she was supposed to do by fulfilling the lich demon's term of their arrangement. She was supposed to fight Grora because the angelic woman's constant bullying against her and Arbus made her scared of Grora. That was why Grora was in fact the one Ater feared most, and she had no choice but to combat her if she wanted to hear about her parents with Arbus. Although it was pleasing to overcome one's fear, Ater wasn't supposed to win the conflict. The white haired cat demon had to lose on purpose which she did by holding back on purpose. She was completely terrified of what she was doing, frightened of everything failing since her wish hindered on that very brawl between her and Grora. The angel harmed Ater by inflicting some serious wounds to her before winning the duel she was meant to win. Grora did her part, but Ater began to feel she shouldn't have blamed her for that. Then again, Grora did side with keeping her uninformed about her parents by not trusting the source, so the angel really was at fault for it.

"S-stupid Arbus…" Her twin sister was the worst of them all. She had a minor role in their deal by only having to listen. All Arbus had to do was comply with that, but she didn't. Instead of listening, Arbus chose to break the deal Ater made for both of them. The black haired kitty claimed it was to help Ater, but Ater believed what she had done didn't help at all. It only showed what her sister really was: a coward who believed her own foolish claim of acknowledging whatever was a possible dark truth pertaining to the fate of their parents. Yet Arbus stupidly denied that accusation by painting her sister as the cowardly one by saying she only chased after likely red herrings within a wild goose chase. Ater believed Arbus was wrong because she didn't even try merely because a simple acknowledgement meant nothing unless one had concrete facts which Arbus didn't have at all. No, she was not the fearful one; it was Arbus for only accepting facts when they weren't facts at all until proven by evidence—proof Ater found even if it was false. Ater was well aware of that, though she still needed to try since she felt so helpless and useless letting others do the work rather than them, plus she truly felt she couldn't abandon the search because of their absent parents.

Everyone else was being foolishly stupid, but not her. They wouldn't try, they didn't want her to hear about her parents regardless of whether the source was trustworthy or not. The apparent lack of concern for her own investigation demonstrated to Ater that they didn't bother to care about how she felt concerning this problem. In spite of the fact they claimed it was for her own good due to them wanting her to be safe and secure without needing to worry about dark truths and any false leads that could've scarred her for life by scaring Ater and ruining the girl's happiness, this foolish belief of theirs was misguided solely because they didn't try. They didn't let her try at all either. It was their fault for taking what Ater considered unnecessary steps to ensure the Gray Garden could be safe from all threats to it. To be fair, caution was a good idea; yet it interfered with her search.

Turning onto her back and staring up at the bedroom ceiling, Ater kept sniffing because of their failures and unwelcome concern for her ruining the effort she made. The poor cat demon had gone far in the search for her parents even though it was only one lead, but they cut her off from it for good and didn't care about how that affected her. Emotionally distraught, Ater felt as if nobody in this peaceful, yet cowardly world didn't care about her. They expressed sympathy and spoke an awful lot of kind words to try and make her feel better, but she believed it was all an act. She truly thought everybody was faking it just to preserve her happiness—or the illusion of Ater's happiness. Perhaps her happiness and faith in this world was misplaced, invested in those that didn't care for her. Such notions made Ater feel uncomfortable, but she didn't know how else to feel about this.

As her tears continued to soak her face, Ater thought back to her first meeting with the lich demon and recalled their conversation then. She was given a term to fight one she feared most, the one she feared most being Grora, and lose to the angel on purpose. Ater fulfilled that term, having also given her own term to the lich demon about informing her and Arbus about their parents. The meeting took place a while ago, just before she betrayed her world to Siralos just to fulfill her deal. Thinking long and hard on their conversation, Ater suddenly recalled the lich demon referred to a dark truth—one of the ones Arbus made clear to her _. "I can show you their final moments and who seized those moments from them."_ That sentence had been part of the conversation, and Ater now realized it was true; their parents had been murdered by someone. She was so fixated on that deal, hopeful they could've heard about their parents when they actually would've been listening to that lich demon speak about their deaths at the hands of someone else. Ater completely forgot about it, how the lich demon referred to them being murdered. Yet strangely enough…she wasn't bothered by it all that much. If anything, that remark actually provided a means of getting to see her parents.

…

"You two have everything ready so far?" Grora asked them, sitting on top of a wall as she swung her legs back and forth against it. The angelic woman had been watching the courtyard and tossing littles peas into her mouth as a midmorning snack. People came and went, going about the business they had to do while she lazed about since she had nothing to do. The garden was all done aside from the daily periods when the plants and flowers had to be watered with the trees too. She already took care of that with her friends about an hour ago before they split up to do other things. While the guys were all elsewhere, Grora decided she might as well see the Head Angel and Lenny off since they were leaving for the Pitch Black World to speak with Fumus about the invasions. "I heard it'll take a while to reach the Corporate Heaven—like, half a day or so. You'll both be there for a while or so, perhaps a couple days or so—at least in our world's time, that is."

"Maybe so since a few weeks in the Gray Garden equates to about a couple hours in Fumus' heaven," Wodahs commented casually, carrying a couple suitcases just in case while Lenny carried two as well. If they had to stay overnight or for a couple days, they were well prepared to do so. A little too prepared, maybe, but they were ready nonetheless. "We might not even be gone that long. Still, I left the assignments that need to get done in good hands since a few employees have several days or so of time to spare and offered to help my brother and Lady Etihw with their work."

"If you say so," the Head Angel's subordinate shrugged, tossing another pea into the air to catch it with her mouth. "Just be careful around the Smoking God, alright? Nobody wants you two to come back affected by second-hand smoke. Then again, you both might've already died before the return trip back if you get close to a lot of the angels there who do smoke like Fumus."

"Yes, we're well aware of that consequence, Grora," Lenny said somewhat sarcastically as he and Wodahs really did know about the legality of cigarettes in the Pitch Black World. "Nice to hear you care, though, but we know what we're doing. We're just going to speak with Fumus and I'll give my testimony over to him to warn him about Siralos' planned invasion of his heaven."

"Great, you guys will do well, I'm sure of it," Grora said with a smile, grateful they at least accepted the warning she gave them however sharp it came across as due to the wording. Hopping down from the wall to join them as the guys strolled down the steps towards a warp slate, the angel reached into the bag of peas and pulled out a handful to shove into her mouth. She may have gotten good at catching them while staying still, though Grora hadn't mastered the art of moving to catch peas or other snacks about the same size as them. "All you need to do is follow my advice and you two will be good to go. Of course, you guys are prepared after all, so maybe it's be a reminder."

"As unnecessary it may be since we already know it, we're grateful for the reminder all the same," the Head Angel commented and set the warp slate to another one located near an area where a portal to the Corporate Heaven was located. Watching him press a few buttons on the side panel, his subordinate stepped back to give the guys space so she wouldn't be caught in the warp. A light started to shine somewhat to indicate it finished switching over to a different magical circuitry that was required for the connection to be made and completed. "The warp slate's ready now, so we'll be going, Grora," he added, turning to face her since he wanted to give Grora instructions. "You've got your standard assignments including the patrols you lead, so be extra careful and alert for foes."

"Yes, yes, I got it, I got it," the angelic lady waved his concern aside. "We stopped Siralos' invasion of our world and are now trying to warn the Smoking God about the one against him. We have nothing to worry about on our end as far as physical assaults go, though I do admit that Fumus could sever the trades routes we share with him if we don't warn him or fail to." As much as Grora felt it wasn't too serious because of the commercial trade with Reficul's underworld and Rosaliya's world, she knew losing the Corporate Heaven's trade routes would've been a problem for both the two places because the economies would've suffered a bit from the loss of some commerce. While she wasn't too worried about that, she was aware that people in this world had friends there as they also received goods and traded items too. Granted, not everyone could visit aside from simple ties as pen pals of a sort between that heaven and this world, but Grora didn't know anyone there apart from the Smoking God. Even so, she did take anyone other residents here knew into consideration. Besides, even if they lost contact with the Corporate Heaven, at least they could still be connected to it indirectly because of Macarona's friendship with Satanick's wife, Lil. "Why worry about it?"

"You've already stated a reason why, Grora, though do recall some of our world's residents do associate with some of those in Fumus' heaven," Wodahs reminded her which was unnecessary because she already considered that. "Besides, we're not doing this for trade even if it does benefit by being preserved via this upcoming meeting. Our friendship with the Corporate Heaven shall be the first and foremost motive in our dealings together because we do care about the people there."

"Yeah, yeah, I know that already, you don't need to remind me, Head Angel," Grora stated to assure him she was fully aware of that. "I'll do my part to take care of our world in your absence while you're away with Lenny. You needn't worry about anything with me on the job. I can handle things from here, the world's not going to fall apart and our people won't get into another war with you gone." Although that last part might not have been necessary, she figured it belonged anyway.

"I should hope not," the Head Angel replied and turned to make eye contact with her. True, another severe conflict like the past war or even another invasion for that matter was in fact rather worrisome. However, he felt that allusion to a war between angels and demons in the Gray Garden was unnecessary because they were at peace and didn't want to fight anymore. Yet when Wodahs thought about it, he couldn't help but ponder about how well-behaved his subordinate was around the cat demons nowadays. She didn't acknowledge their presence which was still rude, though she did stop beating them to a pulp. The Head Angel had a theory that Grora felt sorry for them, hence why she stopped the beatings, but couldn't confirm it because he hadn't asked. Still, Grora wasn't hurting them anymore which was better than nothing which was why he let her handle things about the matter herself. "Anyway, we've got to go now, so do your best helping make our world safe."

"Sure, I'll be giving my all in holding down the fort in your absence, Head Angel. You've no need to sweat the details," the angelic lady responded confidently, eating more peas. "Just come back soon, alright? The employees you've got helping Sir Devil and Lady Etihw might end up like you two do when you guys lose your patience with her finding ways to slack off from work."

"I wouldn't be too worried about that," Lenny commented with a nod of his head. "I heard from the guys a camera was installed to prevent her from sneaking away in the middle of work."

"We set it up," Wodahs remarked, "though her escapades still occur, if rarely nowadays."

"I'll be sure to drag her lazy ass back to the castle if I encounter her around the area on my patrols," Grora reassured him she would escort the Goddess back if she didn't do her duties—that was a remark Etihw wouldn't have wanted to hear from anyone, and the Goddess especially hated how it was actually a promised pledge to ensure she would be doing work instead of being lazy. It was hardly a problem dragging her back even if Etihw kicked and screamed in annoyance at them.

"Then I'll leave affairs to you and everyone else here," Wodahs nodded as he activated the warp slate to head off towards the portal with Lenny in tow. "See you and everybody soon, Grora."

"Yep, we'll be back in a while," Lenny said while waving goodbye with the Head Angel.

"Sure, goodbye and see you guys soon," Grora gave them her goodbye as well before they vanished due to warping far away. Watching them go, she smiled happily and stretched both arms behind her head as she wondered what she'd do now. Throwing the bag of finished peas in a waste bin nearby, the angel put some thought into how much freedom she had without Wodahs here. He was her superior and helped prevent her from enacting any crazy stunts—that fever she had a year ago while taking the nightshift came to mind—so it was nice to stretch her wings out for a bit. That was a figurative concept, and she was grateful to have the Head Angel off her back for some time. Although Kcalb and Etihw were still present, those two had their own matters to handle and could have also been busy trying to mend relations between the cat demons. "Seems like I've got plenty of time on my hands to do whatever I want without them bugging me," she said to herself and took a stroll down the path down into Gray Village. "What to do, what to do…" She would still perform her duties as needed, but figured plenty more downtime was in order as a well-deserved reward to celebrate. There was hardly anything to celebrate, actually, but Grora didn't mind too much. She'd think of something, anything worth having a good time over since nothing serious happened yet.

Well, there was still the matter of Soa and the lich demon, but they haven't been active. As far as Grora knew, the two of them probably departed the Gray Garden at some point if they were not planning an attack on this world. The angel was still worried about them, but would be prepared to face them again at some point later on if need be. Odds of success against those two were slim, but Grora believed they could manage if they found a way to defeat Soa once and for all. Then the focus could be set upon the lich demon, and maybe even that thing the two suspicious girls served. Regardless of however difficult that would've been, everyone would be cautious around all foes.

"Perhaps I'll go see what Froze is up to," Grora thought aloud to herself, believing enough time had passed since their last meeting together. "I wonder how my foster daughter's doing." As the threat of one invasion was behind them with preparations for additional attacks including more from the Sun Heaven in place, the angelic lady thought she might as well check up on the younger angel just to hang out for a bit and spend some quality time with Froze and her friends. Sauntering into the residential district because she believed Froze would've been home at this time, she went down the block her foster daughter's house was on and passed by some kids playing hockey in the street. It was a Sunday, so school was out which indicated Froze was probably free for now if she'd not been busy at the time. Reaching a satin blue house two stories high with an ordinary front yard, Grora ambled up to the porch underneath a small roof and rang the doorbell to see if Froze was in.

The door opened seconds later to reveal the blond haired angel standing there. "Ah, Grora!"

"Hey, Froze, miss me?" Grora inquired sweetly, ruffling the girl's hair affectionately while welcoming herself in even if the young angel was busy with something. "How ya holding up?"

"Pretty well, actually," Froze responded with a nod and let her foster mother in despite the fact Grora already took the first step to making herself at home by heading into the den where she also saw Dialo and Macarona too. "Things have been calming down now that the Sun God's army has been denied access to our world. I've been doing well in school and at work. Aside from that, nothing much has been going on lately." She would've held her arm out to motion the older angel towards a seat, though Grora already plopped herself into a comfortable chair and placed both feet up on the little table in the center of the room which piqued Froze. "Feet off the table, Grora."

"Nuh-uh, it's the only leg rest available," Grora grinned and giggled playfully, teasing her foster daughter until Froze had to actually lift her legs off the table manually. "Aw, spoilsport."

"I just cleaned it, and you haven't taken your boots off," Froze countered.

"Sure, I'll take them off," Grora consented to that and pulled her boots off her feet, setting them next to the chair as the younger angel then took them out into the hallway by the front door.

"I had also vacuumed the carpet," Froze added somewhat sharply.

"Sorry," Grora apologized slightly sheepishly and turned to address the other girls who've been sitting on the couch across from her. "So, Dialo, Macarona, what brings you girls here?" she asked, her eye catching sight of a manuscript the two of them were poring over as Froze joined the two of them to help out with it. "Is this a study group of some sort for school? Need my help?"

"Not really," Dialo replied, looking up to make eye contact with her. "Froze and I are only helping Macarona finalize the last bit of her manuscript regarding the conspiracy she helped solve last year. We've already made it to the epilogue and are currently editing it with her now." Ah, so that was what the book was. Hearing about Macarona's weeklong part time job as a night guard in Clarabella's Museum of Arts and Crafts brought back some memories pertaining to the affair when Project Dynol Peiriant emerged as a critical aspect of the conspiracy. The specific memories were of Grora telling Macarona about Robin and also getting a chance to meet with Robin's spirit. While she had spoken with her old friend only recently in a dream, she was glad to have remembered that other time they conversed. These days she was feeling much better because Robin always returned to see her every so often in those dreams. "It's just about done by this point, so we're good to go."

"I see…well, if you need someone else to help double check your work, I can still help."

"It's already in the final stage of editing," Macarona remarked with a smile and closed her eyes. "I'm so grateful to all my friends for their assistance that I'm going to include them all in the dedication. You're in it too, Miss Grora, since you did tell me what you knew about Robin."

"Ah, thanks, it's an honor to be mentioned in your book," Grora shut her eye and grinned.

"Once this is done, I'll speak with a contact of mine in the castle's publishing department," Froze added to the group discussion regarding the manuscript. "I will help Macarona establish the appointment to meet with him about getting this published. We're nearly at that development."

"Congratulations," Grora remarked with a smile to compliment Macarona on how well she was doing. Writing a book was no small feat, and she was glad the younger angel reached the point when it could be published and found on shelves in bookstores and libraries. "You've come a long way developing that thing. I'd say you definitely have what it takes to be an accomplished author, Macarona. Why, this first project could very well be your magnum opus, your first and best work."

"It might also be the only one if I don't get more ideas to write about," Macarona clarified for the older angel. "I was actually planning on working in an antique store of sorts for my career, but Miss Etihw says I could very well be a foreign ambassador since I'm friends with people from upper classes in underworld societies. I'm still giving what I'll do when I grow up some thinking, though I could supplement whatever income I earn by writing another book or two if possible."

"My advice is to shoot for being that foreign ambassador," the angelic lady advised her. "I think Lady Etihw's got a point about that because of your connections. You're a regular citizen in this world, but you've got ties to Devils and demons related to Devils in underworlds. Why, you're even friends with the Queen, and I've heard she doesn't have many associates in her social circle."

"Yes, and my reincarnated connection to my ancestor has also made me quite popular," the younger angel commented to make another point. "Well, at least in Miss Reficul's underworld for now, though I do imagine my other friends have spread the word to their own underworlds by this point. Except for Lil, that is, because I'm sure she doesn't want her husband to discover her fun."

"See, you've already got it covered as a foreign ambassador," Grora encouraged her some more. "Although you're an angel, Macarona, you've definitely got what it takes to make it within the underworlds. Take it from me, your friendships and diplomatic skills are quite top-notch."

"Yeah, I guess they," Macarona chuckled sheepishly, somewhat embarrassed from getting such praise. "But thank you for the advice and praise, Miss Grora. I appreciate the feedback."

"Don't mention it, Macarona."

"Right, well for now we need to concentrate on wrapping up this editing," Dialo interjected.

"Yes, we're already on the last few pages," Froze agreed as they all got back to work while Grora just sat there and watched them. "Feel free to get yourself something to drink, Grora."

"No thanks, I'm good, I just ate an entire bag of peas before," Grora politely turned it down before offering a suggestion of her own as a way to celebrate the progress of Macarona's new book even if it was still a little too early for that. "Tell you what, why don't we all go out for lunch after this? You know, as a way to help support Macarona in this endeavor of hers? Sound good?"

"I was actually going to make the necessary changes Froze and Dialo are helping me spot," Macarona commented while looking up, "but I'm up for something to eat beforehand."

"Sure, I'm game too," the demon agreed with a small smile. "Though Chelan and Yosafire can't make it, I'm afraid. They went fishing together, and Rawberry's taking Raspbel to therapy."

"Bummer," the angelic woman said in slight disappointment, but inwardly wished the girls well and hoped they were doing alright. "What about you, Froze? You up for it too?"

Her foster daughter nodded. "Certainly, I'm free for lunch; however, I will be heading into work afterwards to help catalogue some of the artefacts we've got while analyzing them."

Grora smiled, glad to have joined a small group for quality time together. "Alright, lunch's on me, girls, so none of you have to worry about paying, alright? I've got my own contribution to make towards Macarona's efforts. Consider it thanks for including me in the book's dedications."

Macarona smiled too. "If you're fine with that, I guess it'll be okay."

…

Sighing in exhaustion, having finished writing yet another report today—the third one she was required to get done for Wednesday's meeting—Etihw swiveled around in her chair and stared out the window. She'd been at this for days now, not receiving a single break at all because she needed to make up for all the hours she purposely missed by escaping her responsibilities since she wanted to slack off and be lazy instead. Simply postponing the work by procrastinating would not help because she'd have to complete everything at some point, thus limiting leisure time Etihw wanted rather than spending it on assignments like these. Reaching a hand towards the window to close it as if she were grasping for a break—one that wasn't well-deserved even though she actually was trying to claim it for herself—the Goddess let out another sigh and sniffed sadly. Her attention averted to the camera near her desk to monitor her doing the job she was supposed to do, and Etihw could not help but think about all the fun she could be having right about now instead of working.

"Quit daydreaming about getting a break, Eti," Kcalb spoke up from his desk, checking the assignments she'd gotten done up to that point. He knew her well enough by now to figure Etihw's mind shifted gears from production to shutting down. Her body language and facial expression did indeed demonstrate she was bored with work and wanted to do something other than the tediously monotonous reports, documents, and files still piling up on and around her desk. Wodahs might've already left with Lenny for the Corporate Heaven where Fumus resided, though Kcalb was capable of handling this himself with the help of other employees. "Get back to work. We're still waiting."

Etihw sighed again. "Guilty as charged," she admitted. "You don't need to tell me twice."

"I believe Wod and I are somewhere in the triple to quadruple digits by now," he remarked, not using sarcasm to make his point since it was actually a fair estimate of how many times they've had to inform the Goddess about it. "Glad to hear you're taking responsibility for that for once."

"Whatever, what I'd give for a break from all this work…"

"Knowing you, you'd probably irresponsibly sell your soul to me in exchange for a break." He had a point, she might've done something like it. Hell that gave her an idea she could not help but smile at as she swiveled to face the Devil and open her mouth. "No deal, your soul's worthless in that regard," Kcalb cut her off before she could even say a word. "Working's a better currency."

The Goddess pouted, sticking her tongue at him. "Party pooper spoilsport." Unfortunately, that insult didn't work because the Devil easily ignored it since it didn't faze him. "You suck."

"That's what I'd expect from a childish Goddess who refuses to mature and do her work."

"Well, there's plenty more where that came from."

"You espouse so much energy in slacking off and mocking others that you're wasting it. A more productive means of channeling it would harness that energy much better than wasting it."

"Yeah, you're one to talk," Etihw continued to hopelessly banter against his logic, turning to her desk again and signing off on a file she took from one of the towering stacks by her desk. "I hate how you never find any enjoyment in your life, Kcalb. Our world is at peace, we stopped that invasion Siralos started and survived other incidents we were put through. Learn to relax, Kcalb."

"I do," he countered lightly. "I'd be able to enjoy it more had you finished your work, Eti."

"Tch, whatever floats your boat, dude." Pulling another document off the stack, she caught sight of some letters written in crayon falling onto her desk—what little could be seen through the other papers. Picking one up and unfolding it as the letter was addressed to her, the Goddess cleared her throat and read aloud. "Dear Miss Eti, when is Ater coming back?" It was a child's writing, one with good linguistic skills in writing. Etihw took up another one, continuing to read it in front of the Devil. "Dear Miss Eti, why is Ater upset? Is something wrong with her? Will she be back?"

Having listened to her go over those letters from the daycare center, Kcalb frowned sadly. He knew the children there missed having Ater around because she was sweet and fun to them. An absence from work like the one she was currently taking upset everybody because they felt there'd no longer been any reason for her to continue doing stuff. That was the general idea perceived due to how the white haired cat demon acted, and they wondered if there was anything that could cheer her up so she wouldn't be so upset over what happened when the deal with Soa and the lich demon fell through. The children didn't know what was going on since they weren't old enough to hear it yet, but even they had begun to worry about Ater now that she'd been absent for so long. "They're right to miss her…" he murmured somberly, narrowing his eyes in a nostalgic expression because he was remembering how happy the children were with the cat demon twins around. "It's sad…"

"Mm," Etihw nodded to concur with his sentiments, feeling sorry for the kitties. The black haired cat demon was still working in the daycare center, though she hadn't divulged the problems she and her white haired twin sister were experiencing lately. The Goddess could recall a visit she paid down there this past Thursday to find Arbus purposely avoiding inquiries about Ater by only saying that the other kitty was just having a hard time with something and needed time alone. She didn't even use her sister's name or refer to Ater as her sister at all, keeping Ater's disownment of her close to the chest. "They're going through a difficult issue, having trouble getting over it. You know, it sort of reminds me about how Rawberry and Raspbel split up due to what Raspbel did to try and solve her own problems. Different circumstances, though quite similar all the same."

"True, I'll not deny that," Kcalb agreed with her, wondering how they were doing. He was aware of Ater moping around in her own bedroom, confining herself to it instead of doing anything. Yet the Devil was unaware of Arbus' whereabouts at the moment; still he knew Arbus was around here somewhere. "Speaking of which, I haven't checked on Arbus lately as Ater preoccupies me."

"She was in my room last time I checked," Etihw replied. "I think we should each take care of one of them for the time being. You take Ater, and I'll handle Arbus. I'll check on her now."

"Sure, I'm fine with that," Kcalb responded and got back to work. "I'll give Ater space for now and check in with her once I'm done with this. Go see Arbus and chat with her for a bit."

"I will," Etihw said while going off to do as she was instructed. "Don't worry, I'll not make use of this opportunity to run away from my duties," she also added to reassure him of that.

"See that you don't," he reminded her as the Goddess stepped out of the room and walked over to her room so she could check on how Arbus was doing to see if the cat demon was alright.

Approaching the door and knocking on it first, she heard a soft meow from inside that had sounded a little happy to hear somebody coming to visit. Etihw smiled a little, glad to hear the cat demon's voice because it meant she was okay. Leaving now would've only upset the poor girl, so the Goddess spoke up in a clear voice to soothe Arbus' nerves if they were still frayed due to Ater's disownment of her and also the argument they had over the issue of their parents. "Arbus, it's me," she remarked comfortingly and heard another happy meow from within. "Can I come in, Arbus?"

"Yes, absolutely!" came the excited reply from the cat demon who had apparently changed into her humanoid form. The Goddess didn't need another response since she gripped the knob to open the door by turning it before pushing the door forward to enter her bedroom. Then again, the black haired cat demon shared her room now because she and her white haired twin sister separated from each other. Maybe it should've been referred to as their bedroom now, a thought which made Etihw happy since she would've enjoyed letting the kitties move in with her because then the three of them would have fun playing together. Unfortunately, there was only two of them; Ater was not present in the trio, yet Arbus didn't seem to really mind all that much anymore. "Come right in!"

Stepping inside, the Goddess chuckled as the black haired kitty bounded over to her to give Etihw a big hug while purring happily. She enjoyed the sound of Ater and Arbus purring together, but kept that thought to herself. Right now she was supporting the latter in the hope she would get back together with her twin while Kcalb did the same with Ater. That was why she'd have to accept only Arbus' sweet purring right now, returning the gesture as Arbus rubbed her cheek against hers. "Hello, Arbus, nice to see you. Have you been doing well while I was working?" she asked to see if Arbus was alright. "You're not feeling lonely in here all by yourself, are you, Arbus?"

The cat demon's eyes widened somewhat as she thought about how to answer that inquiry. It showed Etihw how she still missed Ater and also being in Ater's company. In light of the notion that they were only rooms apart, that was a mere technicality. Despite their separation, apparently the two kitties were still close together even if not on good terms with one another. Etihw frowned somberly, waiting for an answer from Arbus who watched the Goddess' facial expression change. "Oh, I'm doing swell, alright," the cat demon responded with a smile to try and cheer her up. "I'm okay on my own, Lady Etihw. You don't have to worry about me feeling lonely around here." She was kind of telling the truth, yet she was also sort of lying too by not telling the whole truth. Etihw could understand that well since she read Arbus' facial expression and body language for answers.

"Looks like you could use a bit of company for a bit," she commented, smiling again since she wanted to make Arbus happy and led the girl over to her bed and sat down. Letting Arbus take a seat on her lap, the Goddess wrapped her arms around the cat demon to cuddle with her. "Okay?"

Arbus grinned widely and shut her eyes. "I'd love it! Thank you, Lady Etihw!" she purred, pressing her cheek against the Goddess' again as a token of affection. "You're the best!"

"Thank you, Arbus, that means a lot to me," Etihw murmured with a small smile. "So, what do you want to do together? I've still got to get back to work, but we can draw something together for a few minutes. I can even read you a story if that's what you'd like. Whichever you prefer."

"You mean you can't stay long?" Arbus inquired somewhat disappointedly. "Bummer."

"Why? Were you hoping I'd spend the whole day with you?" the Goddess asked, showing concern for the poor cat demon because she was worried about her. "It's the weekend, I know, but things have continued to pile up. Kcalb says it's because I'm a slacker, but what does Kcalb know? He's nothing but a workhorse, him and Wodahs always forcing me to work instead of having fun." The petty comment against them was meant as a bit of playful teasing, and she giggled at the sound of it in an attempt to make Arbus happy again. However, it didn't seem to work very effectively.

"True, but you still do the work. You do the crime, you do the time," the kitty replied in an overly bland tone of voice that obviously struggled to sound happy because of how funny that was. Yet the lack of emotion in that remark was another sign of Arbus' misery since the lack of a partner to complete the second sentence in the cute mannerism of speaking Arbus and Ater used was rather taxing on how the former felt in that regard. She was without Ater, and didn't feel happy about it.

"Yes, that's most certainly true," Etihw conceded the argument on that before offering the cat demon a suggestion as to what she could do with her time. "Why not go into Gray Village and spend time with the girls if you would like to have company while I'm working? They'd welcome you with open arms and let you play and have fun with them." It was a good idea, one Arbus might have accepted had she really felt very lonely without anyone to play with. Yet the Goddess merely wanted to gage the black haired cat demon's feelings on the matter to understand how she felt. The response the kitty was going to give her would've shown Etihw the depth of Arbus' sorrows.

Hesitating to answer, Arbus eventually figured out what the Goddess really wanted because she was certain Etihw and Kcalb were just trying to help her patch things up with Ater. It was one reason why she probably shouldn't have answered that previous inquiry, though it would've been rude not to. "I…don't know if they are busy or not, and I'd rather not bother them if they are." Her answer was honest in both the phrasing of it and also the way it sounded too. "I don't want to cause any trouble for them, or be a burden to them since they might feel like they must please me."

"But you're not a burden, Arbus, we're happy to spend time with you," Etihw remarked in a soothing tone to try and reassure her of that before deciding to stop beating around the bush now that the kitty uncovered the motive behind her visit. "Everybody's worried about you two. I've got letters from the children in the daycare center asking about her, and I know they're worried about how you're feeling too." She avoided outright saying Ater's name out of fear Arbus wouldn't like it, though her comments pertaining to them only garnered a somber sigh from the cat demon.

"You know we're both not going to be getting back together ever again."

"And yet you're still two to three rooms down from her. What do you make of that, Arbus?"

Initially confused as to what the Goddess meant by that comment, Arbus blinked slowly at first while comprehending the remark and what it meant. At first she had moved in with Etihw due to wanting to move on rather than be bogged down by Ater's seemingly pointless investigation for their parents. She could've very well gone to another employee she was close to, yet Arbus chose Etihw because she and the Goddess were close as she thought of Etihw as a motherly figure which was the same bond Grora and Froze shared from what she knew about the two angels. Ater shared the same bond with Etihw as well, and she also could've looked to the Goddess for this kind of aid if she was in Arbus' place right now. Thinking deeply on the matter, Arbus realized she had another reason for choosing the Goddess of all people just as she chose to come to her bedroom too. Arbus knew why, but felt conflicted over it. "I just…" she murmured with a slight pause, "don't know."

"I think you do," Etihw gently alluded to the contradiction between the kitty's thinking and her comment, well aware of what was on the black haired cat demon's mind. "You still love her," she added, naming the reason Arbus was unsure about. "You're worried for her, knowing you can't fully abandon her even when she might've already given up on you. That's why you came to me."

"I-I came because you're so nice to us," Arbus responded somberly, stuttering at first even when the rest of her comment wasn't. She didn't realize she referred to Ater as well until a moment later. Although she would've taken it back to only allude to herself, Arbus felt she couldn't which Etihw understood when she saw the kitty's face perk up upon recognizing she referenced Ater too.

"That's one reason, yet it is not the main reason, Arbus. Think about it: of all the individuals you could've gone to and of all the places you could've gone to, you came here to me for help with this problem. You've been disowned by your sister, thus freeing you from any and all obligations to her because she doesn't want you anymore. By that logic, you'd no longer have to care for her; you're free to do whatever you'd like without her, Arbus. However, you do not go far from where she is at times; you go down to the daycare center while Ater's elsewhere in the castle, plus Ater's also gone into Gray Village yesterday while you were out there too playing with little children."

"Are you saying I'm still attached to her and need to be by Ater's side, Lady Etihw?"

"That's exactly the point I'm making, Arbus," Etihw confirmed the question with her reply. "Even now you declined my idea to go out into Gray Village to have fun with friends because you wish to remain here in my room under the pretense that you'll be a burden. Yet you could've also gone to other places in the castle instead to alleviate your loneliness. By staying here or somewhere else in the castle, you're maintaining a close proximity to your twin sister. I know you realize this."

Arbus felt she couldn't deny the Goddess' logic. "And what of it?" she asked somberly.

"Meaning that in spite of your argument with her and the fact she disowned you, you can't bring yourself to leave her behind. You're worried about her, Arbus, whether it's because you feel responsible for keeping her out of trouble or because you care greatly about Ater as you love her." Her reasoning made sense and Arbus couldn't say anything to counter the points Etihw was making because she acknowledged that Etihw was in fact right about how she was feeling. Looking down at her lap believing she didn't know what to do about this problem, she looked up when Etihw put forth a suggestion to her. "Go see Ater, Arbus. Demonstrate you still love her and care for her."

Blinking sadly a few times, Arbus sighed and got off the Goddess' lap to sit beside her. "It won't work, Lady Etihw. Ater doesn't want me anymore, and I'm fine with that even if what you're saying is true." Contrary to her statement, however, she truly wasn't fully alright with the concept.

"Maybe so, but at least make the effort for both your sake and hers," Etihw encouraged her to go through with this idea. "Even if the two of you still can't make up now or anytime later, you at least can show Ater how much you love her, Arbus. She's your only twin sister, you know that."

"Yes, but…" the cat demon murmured, ears drooping low to indicate she was still sad.

Observing how hesitant Arbus was, Etihw figured she should've acted a little more directly. Taking one of the kitty's hands in hers, she stood up with her and smiled at Arbus. "If it's too hard to do it alone, I'll go with you to help. You can do the talking, or I can speak for you if you'd like," she said and began to lead the black haired cat demon out of the room. "Come on, let's go see Ater now." Crossing the threshold and sauntering over to the cat demons' bedroom, Etihw knocked on it a couple times to see if Ater was in. "Ater, it's me, Etihw. I've come with Arbus to see you."

"Go away…" came the gloomy reply from Ater within. "I don't want to see you…"

"We would like to talk to you, Ater. We can even do it through the door," the Goddess said while providing an alternative means of speaking if they couldn't see each other in person. Though she expected a response from the white haired cat demon, either for them to leave her alone or the reunion everyone hoped Ater and Arbus would have, her statement did have an effect on Ater since the white haired kitty opened the door to reveal her disheveled appearance. "Can we come in?"

"No, go away…" the white haired cat demon murmured gloomily while staring at them.

"We only wish to speak with you, Ater," Etihw tried persuading her to talk with them. That wish wasn't granted because Ater shut the door in their faces without another word, making Etihw sigh in sad frustration because their efforts were fruitless this time. "I guess that's a no then."

"Guess so…" Arbus concurred with the remark and walked back to the Goddess' bedroom. "Sorry, Lady Etihw," she apologized to her for any trouble she might've caused, "but thank you."

"It's okay, Arbus," Etihw responded with a small smile and followed her there. "You didn't do anything wrong, I'm more than happy to help you girls. Really, it's no trouble at all. I am quite sure things will work out at some point, so don't worry." Hopefully things did work out over time.

Yet they failed to notice the razor carefully concealed in Ater's right hand upon seeing her.

…

 **This is perhaps one of the darkest cliffhangers I've ever made, yet it is also one of the most tragic due to the nature of Ater's problem. It ties into the suspense and tragedy genres of this fanfic, hence why I'm incorporating it. I don't mean offense to anybody who has also gone through it, but I do apologize if it comes across as offensive even if in the story's nature.**

 **I also figured out a name for Fumus' heaven with aspects similar to him. Bear in mind I'm not advocating for smoking, nor do I smoke, but I apologize for including it in the story.**


	18. Chapter Eighteen: Ater's Suicide

They had tried to keep what had happened a secret ever since those intruders left. For days the sun angels who were present and were also summoned to the Sun Tower stayed mum on details that shouldn't have been disclosed to the public for fear of what might've happened. Although the Sun God's successor could've been found by rounding up a group of potential candidates, there'd been a severe divide on what to do following the attack. Some candidates advocated for caution as they feared the intruders' allusions to their sun being a shrouded veil concealing something might have been true. They were concerned it was something so terrible it should've never been revealed and released by any means necessary. Others believed they should gone ahead anyway on the rite of passage to determine who the successor was without caring for the allusions spoken of by those intruders along with what the individuals in this group called insults to said rite. Most of the angels were split apart into these two factions for the most part, but there was a third faction among them which was headed by Igls Unth who still believed in Siralos in spite of his…unwell conditions.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Sun Heaven's military force rallied the troops around her based on the idea that the latter of those other two factions was attempting to betray Siralos. While that notion may have seemed true during other occasions under different circumstances, this group was only seeking to advance their entire heaven's society further into a new era under a new deity who would serve as the Sun God. They didn't seek to control whoever this candidate was, nor did they want to stake claims on their own interests because they actually did care about their heaven. Yet the fact they sought to replace Siralos alone, despite being a shoddy excuse for the military to seize power on behalf of the current Sun God, was all Igls Unth needed to formulate her plans for preserving her father's place and position as the Sun God. That was why she had those who made attempts to help Siralos remain silent by keeping what happened a secret out of the public view. It was also necessary in her opinion to permanently silence the opposing faction by killing them all; as for the more fearfully conservative faction, Igls Unth threatened their lives with military power to keep them in check. They could no longer speak, and they lost all of their power as advisors.

Such an incident was unparalleled to other problems the Sun Heaven dealt with because it was far worse than those other issues they faced in the past, like the war with that guild for instance. The idea that a single lich demon who was believed to be a petty threat—at first to some, whereas others still thought of her as a petty threat—was actually invincible to the sun's full power was an unbelievable concept many couldn't fathom. It was impossible to them, yet that lich demon proved it without even having to lift a finger. Her colleague, the one called Soa, was completely barbaric; contrary to her behavior, the lich demon was refined and apparently seemed to like Soa. Yet there was that third element none of them saw except for Siralos because their eyes were closed, so they thought those two brought in some kind of horrific, gargantuan, aquatic beast from the sound of it. None of them could understand this particular incident very well aside from their heavy loss.

For the days following that catastrophe, the military held all the power with Igls Unth as a temporary regent for Siralos until he got better. She alone made all decisions and drafted legislation for laws while conscripting more troops to replace the Elite Tower Knights who all perished when the lich demon and Soa performed their successful invasion. Under her reign, society prospered in many aspects because she maintained the firm, yet soothing grip her father preserved unless those who opposed him had to be punished—in which case, they were either executed or cast out of the Sun Heaven. Although she still held the position of Commander-in-Chief which had automatically made her the Marshall, Igls Unth nevertheless took up new responsibilities as part of the new office she was holding for her father on his behalf until he could reclaim it. Then she'd step down so she could resume her military duties more frequently than nowadays since governance kept her rather occupied. It seemed her rule could've gone on forever if need be depending on when Siralos could recover, but she and others who still believed in him hoped he'd get well soon enough in time.

Nobody else was allowed to visit him but her, and Igls Unth maintained a firm vigil which not only provided support to her father, but also started to wear her down bit by bit as time passed. She remained with him all night each night, staying by his side in the hope any nightmares the lich demon gave him would subside and also not be as terrifying if the Sun God faced them alone with no one there to help him get better. Even medical aid wasn't allowed because clerics, paladins, and other healers who might've been able to help had they been given a chance to were forbidden from viewing Siralos in his mentally crippled condition out of concern they'd divulge this to the public. Igls Unth began to distrust her supporters, yet still managed to maintain the face of trust and belief in them since she needed to hold the Sun Heaven together until Siralos resumed his rightful place. He was the Sun God, not her, and only he could utilize the sun's power for his duties as the deity. She might've begun to get tired from losing sleep so often, though she trudged on as a loyal soldier.

Affairs were alright so far, and she'd just gotten through another day at work she felt might have become quite taxing due to her exhaustion among other problems that sprang up. Even so, it was alright because Igls Unth was still due okay for the most part even though she needed a break at some point before she either collapsed or died from exhaustion and overexerting herself. While she would do her best to avoid that, she had to govern their heaven in her father's mental absence.

Heading to her father's bedroom to check on Siralos and remain with him for another night, the Commander-in-Chief sighed in frustrated exhaustion at having managed to pull through again. Managing a heaven was a task only a deity and governmental staff could do, and she didn't really fit either of those roles because of her military status. However, she was able to make her voice in the government heard due to both her position and the fact she was Siralos' daughter. Making use of those roles was the only reason why she even had power in the government, and Igls Unth made sure to wield it as best she could for her father's sake. After all, the Sun Heaven needed a deity.

Approaching the door, she spoke up to address the guards that were presently watching the door ensuring nobody peeked or broke in. "I arrived to see Lord Siralos. You are dismissed now," she instructed them, waiting for a response from them. Every day she rotated in new guards who would spend the day guarding the door before being replaced the next day. The two she chose for today were experienced veterans from wars and raids on the Flame Underworld. "Well, off you go to resume other duties you have," she went on, not receiving an answer from either one of them. Their silence irritated her, and she quickened her pace towards them to scold the veterans for not answering her. "Are you two listening to me?! I'll not tolerate your—" Yet Igls Unth didn't finish speaking as she was suddenly cut off when she tripped over something and stumbled into a slick puddle that made her slip and fall back. Landing on the thing she must've tripped over, the angelic woman pressed a hand against it to help herself up. However, she didn't expect the thing she felt and used for support to be a slain guard's face, his corpse lying face up at the ceiling above him.

"What…?" Igls Unth gasped in surprise when she found him dead on the floor. Wondering if the other guard was dead too, she leapt to her feet and nearly tripped over something else in her rush to open the door. She guessed it was the other corpse, figuring he too had been slain. However, her father was her top priority since his safety above theirs was far more crucial than two veterans. "Lord Siralos!" she raised her voice to shout his name in the hope of a response from him after she threw the door open. The angelic woman hoped the Sun God wasn't on the other side of this door, but she had already begun to panic because the guards were dead, killed on duty by someone who worried Igls Unth because the unknown individual could've been an assassin or more than one of them. "Lord Siralos! Lord Siralos, where are you?!" Unfortunately, her calls went unanswered and were made in vain as she soon began to realize the Sun God was missing from his bedroom. Where he went was a mystery because Siralos was in no condition to move around by himself, so he must have been taken somewhere and was either killed or kidnapped. Both ideas could've been true too.

"Dammit!" she swore, trying to think of any suspects who may have had access to this part of the Sun Tower where the Sun God's private quarters were. Igls Unth felt certain nobody of her regiment or any other regiments of the army had come through this space. The sun angel made her way through the halls in search of the nearest patrol unit of Elite Tower Knights to relay the news to them. Their orders would be to search for Siralos and threaten anyone who dared harm him and reveal what had happened to her father with instant death if either of those dire consequences had become realities or were on the verge of becoming so. She had to find her father, yet Igls Unth had to silence rumors from sprouting wherever they emerged before the spread too quickly like a severe wildfire. While she was searching, her mind went over the possibilities of potential suspects.

Eventually she settled on Hastur. It had to be him, no other angel here hated Siralos. Only the former Gray Garden angel had the audacity to despise her father and insult him. She was going to kill him for whatever he did with Siralos, inwardly regretting that she even listened to the Sun God whenever he called her off from trying to do so many times before. Even so, Siralos was her father and she obeyed him without questioning the Sun God for that very reason as he did create her. Yet she felt he should've done something about the antagonistic angel sooner than later instead of allowing him to live and serve in the army. However, she couldn't blame her father for that.

Hearing the sound of hurried footsteps approaching her, Igls Unth raised her voice to speak up and address the patrol unit coming forward to meet with her. "You there! Sound the alarm, but ensure you and anyone else inside the military doesn't spark widespread panic outside the tower!" she commanded before revealing the horrible revelation to them. "Lord Siralos has gone missing!"

"We know where he is," the captain of the patrol unit responded and began to lead her over to an elevator, "though I'm afraid you're not going to like this, Lady Igls Unth." He said no more, obviously hesitant to inform her of what was going on as were the others which angered the lady.

"Well, spit it out, soldier! This is a pressing matter and I need you to join the search! If you already have a bead on his location, turn over your authority to me and call for reinforcements! I'll not let this disrupt order in our heaven, otherwise we will be dealing with very serious problems!" Her rage was justified, though her concern for Siralos took precedent and it was why he spoke up.

"My apologies, Lady Igls Unth, though it looks like Hastur—"

"Attention, residents of the Sun Heaven!" a booming voice interrupted the captain over the radio installed in the elevator, drawing their attention to the voice. Gritting her teeth in anger, Igls Unth immediately pressed a button for the nearest floor below them and stormed out into a corridor when the door opened. That was Hastur's voice, and she figured he was making some grand speech he didn't even have the authority to make. Her gut instinct told her it had to do with her father, so she crossed over to an open window and flew out towards the tower's front entrance. Hastur didn't stop speaking even as she was drawing her longswords to slaughter him. "Look upon your God!"

"Shit…" Igls Unth swore under her breath as she flew towards the grand courtyard upfront where citizens of the capital city all began to gather around. One of her worst fears that manifested only recently due to the attack on the Sun Tower was becoming a reality before her, and Igls Unth realized she was too late to stop it from happening. Now she had proof he kidnapped the Sun God and was displaying her father's pitiful form in front of the masses to destabilize his prestige and a reputation he'd constructed for years. Arriving there now, she landed right away by her father.

"Look at him! Gaze upon his pathetic outlook, for he has fallen!" Hastur went on, causing a mass gasp of horror, shock, and bewilderment amongst the throng. He heard Igls Unth approach, but didn't care because he had already revealed the Sun God to them. "His power was useless, he's been turned into a sniveling wreck! Your God has fallen from grace, and he shall not rise again!"

"You…!" she screamed at him, enraged over what he did. "You bastard! How dare you do this to Lord Siralos!" Reaching out to safely seize her father and take him away from the crowd as she didn't want them to look upon the Sun God's mentally crippled form, the angelic woman made an attempt to fly back into the Sun Tower with him. Unfortunately, Hastur anticipated that because his hand was down at the sheath of his katana. He drew it with such speed that the blade cut her as she tried to save Siralos. Wincing and hissing in pain while holding her wounded hand, Igls Unth's legs inadvertently moved back with her as she stumbled off balance. "I ordered for this to be kept secret! You're causing a panic among the people when we need to be healing Lord Siralos!" Then she realized her mistake by admitting that aloud; Hastur purposely tricked her into saying that.

"You hear that?!" he asked the crowd before them and pointed his katana at Igls Unth. "She has declared this wretch's mental state be kept from public view! Well, now I am showing you all what your Commander-in-Chief, your esteemed Marshall of the Sun Heaven, has hidden from the public eye! See your God quiver and pale before that which has dethroned him from power!" Then he pointed it at Siralos' pale, trembling form, and Igls Unth could only watch as Hastur began the next part of the speech which would whip the crowd into a frenzy. She could've attempted to slay him then and there, but his eyes were on her and he pressed the katana to her father's throat. Poison was dripping from the blade, and she felt that might've been a similar substance that was solidified to produce the Lebabylonian Blade. "And when your God fell, this lady seized power for herself on his behalf while he's been crippled! She demanded for any who opposed her by seeking to put another God on the throne via a rite of passage be slain, and that order has been carried out!"

"Because they were the ones who turned their backs on Lord Siralos by suggesting it!" she shouted, trying to defend Siralos' position. He was still the Sun God, nobody could replace him.

"After he fell to two invaders from the Gray Garden!" Hastur clarified, countering her.

Murmurs of concern and resentment arose from within the throng of sun angels. Voices of discontent and sorrow were heard expressing their worries for Siralos and the need for a new deity who would lead them to glory for the sun. Their opinions of the matter only made Igls Unth angry at those who wished for her father to be replaced, and considerate towards those who still had faith. Unfortunately, even she could understand a rift was forming because of Hastur's plan to use Siralos to his own advantage by displaying his poor, pitiful state to these angels. The angelic man did this on purpose, attempting to bring down the Sun God to advance his own interests. Yet Igls Unth did not understand why blame was pinned on the Gray Garden unless it was revenge the Gray Garden undertook by sending the lich demon and Soa—the former of whom she heard of—to enact upon that desire. However, there was no proof of that since the portals were sealed, and the lady was in fact quick to remind him of that. "There is no evidence of that, our portals were sealed!"

"And yet it is not impossible for two lone invaders from that world to use our portals even after the entrances to this heaven were sealed," Hastur argued, contradicting himself at first. "You may claim we would be unable to open them, but what's to say those entrances weren't opened up from the other side by the White Goddess and Black Devil." The logic of his latter statement made sense, and Igls Unth had no choice but to admit it was true even if she refused to say it aloud. She was about to make her own voice heard again and appeal to the crowd in an attempt to make them stop listening. This man was poisoning their minds by clouding them, though said man continued. "They are quite capable of lying and hiding things from us like their arrival into our world, just as you've proven yourself to be a liar by hiding this wretch's miserable state from your heaven!"

More discorded voices emerged, nearly erupting on the verge of revolts and rebellions. The situation was grim even as more military soldiers arrived to quell the rising chaos. However, their hands were held back by Igls Unth's command. "Do not strike them down! Our actions will serve to not only quell them tonight, but usher in further conflict from them later as part of Hastur's plan! He is using them to instigate a rebellion against Lord Siralos! I order you to arrest him at once!"

"For what? Showing your people the truth behind the veil you've kept cloaked around this fallen deity?" Hastur inquired before turning to the people and addressing them. "See, this woman seeks to ensure this matter is swept under the rug with you all unaware!" His words did have a ring of truth to them, and no matter how much she denied them because they came from him, Igls Unth couldn't formulate a well-thought out response to challenge that assertion unless of course she had stated her intentions. Now that she thought about it, perhaps she should've done that from the start.

"Only for the sake of Lord Siralos! I stayed by his side throughout these past days and had no choice but to assume leadership via regency to preserve order! My reign is temporary for him!"

"The people do not want a regent! They seek a deity!" Hastur challenged her, drawing Igls Unth further into the midst of the rising tension which was beginning to look like a tsunami which would ensnare the sun angels in a corner they couldn't escape from. "Siralos has fallen, and you've clearly demonstrated that you only seek to stay in power and hold it for him! Yet how do we know you won't betray him now that you've got the chance to when you've had it all along ever since a couple of aforementioned invaders waltzed right into this damn tower and deposed of him?!"

"Because Lord Siralos is my father!" Igls Unth asserted, falling into another trap.

"A hereditary monarchy governed by Siralos' dynasty!" Hastur argued, fully aware of Igls Unth's relation to the Sun God as his daughter. He anticipated that response and utilized it to show they had little respect for the rite of passage. "Surely your rite of passage is unnecessary to you!"

"Should a new deity be chosen when the oracles ordain when the sun's power is active, I'll gladly step down with Lord Siralos! But that is only when that time comes, Hastur! We do respect our rite of passage, whereas you don't! I'm aware you're just trying to become a God yourself!"

"Indeed, I admit that I shall become a God, your new God to be specific as I am capable of the task at hand because I know one other thing you've kept hidden from these people!" he shouted, yet again bringing up another point he'd used to sway the crowd by persuading them into following him instead of Siralos or other deities appointed by the rite of passage. That demonstrated the point Igls Unth made about him not respecting it. Unfortunately, there was also a significant issue in that statement preceding the matter he was going to proceed with as Igls Unth was well aware of what it was. She figured he must've secretly eavesdropped on the attack against Siralos. "The sun you've all worshipped for as long as it's been around and for as long as you've known it is not a sun at all because it is a shrouded veil! A shrouded veil that conceals something the intruders knew about!"

"That was their exact threat!" the angelic woman countered, hoping this point would finish this debate rather than be the final nail in the coffin for Siralos and their world's way of life around the sun. "They threatened us with that, making up a lie to subdue us so we wouldn't attack them!"

"Just as you've lied about Siralos' condition!" Hastur countered her counterargument. "Do we even know if you're telling the truth about that?! What if it is true and you've been aware of it even way before the invaders came?! You could make use of whatever that is against your heaven to stay in power! Perhaps it is what the candidates who knew of it made use of to become deities!"

Slowly but surely the crowd was becoming incensed and divided over the problems Hastur was bringing up. They felt enflamed by the military's deception, how Igls Unth didn't follow their world's procedure of using the rite of passage to keep power. They were in disbelief over the things Hastur revealed, wondering if the sun really was the focal point of their world's entire culture. The things he was saying produced a rift in the people who had gathered, and word was going to spread far and wide throughout the Land of the Sun—at least in the Sun Heaven and perhaps in the mortal realm too. Although some supported Siralos and some didn't while maintaining their faith in their world's culture and religion which centered on the sun, others began to side with Hastur's ideas.

This was insane. Igls Unth could only grit her teeth in anger as she helped her father up to turn him over to a few soldiers who were still loyal to her because even other troops were starting to become disconcerted over the issue. She didn't like the look of this, how civil war was appearing to erupt on all sides as factions seemed to form amongst the angels of their heaven. It was ugly.

"See?" Hastur questioned her while pointing out at the crowd that already began to conflict against one another while soldiers actually began to join in by disobeying the order Igls Unth gave. "This is how you people handle the truth. You keep it hidden away under lock and key; now you've sparked their dissent. It was not I who lit this fuse, it was you and your military; I told the truth."

"Damn you, Hastur…" This was exactly what he wanted: support among chaos he caused.

…

"There you guys go, all nice and comfy," Arbus murmured while helping a couple children into their seats for lunch. Some of them brought meals in, though the black haired cat demon made nutritious meals for the little children when helping a couple of the other attendants prepare meals in case nobody had any due to their parents not having enough time to make it for them. She smiled warmly at them, going over to a cart where the meals were and brought them over for the children by setting the paper plates in front of them. "Here you are, fresh from the kitchen." She patted two of them on their heads and stood up, walking over to a counter to get herself the sandwich she had made for herself that morning as the kids thanked her for the food. "You're all quite welcome, my little friends. Eat up and be healthy!" she chirped happily, biting into the tuna sandwich.

"Arbus," the head attendant of the daycare center called her over to the corridor.

"Hm?" Wondering what the angel wanted in between bites, Arbus took another one before wrapping it back up in the plastic. "Coming," she answered and turned to address the children who were all seated at the table. "I'll be right back, kiddies," she remarked and headed outside to speak with her boss. "What's up? Has their dessert been prepared yet? I can go get it if it already has."

"No, Arbus, it hasn't, but thank you for offering," the head attendant replied, pointing over to a case of drawings and letters the children made. "These are for your sister. They made them."

"Oh…I see…" the kitty murmured somberly when she heard that, understanding how they felt sorry for Ater. While the adults were aware of what the situation was like, the kids weren't as they were too young to understand. They only heard Ater was upset because she was having some trouble dealing with a serious problem. That was why the children wanted to help cheer her up. A nice thought, one Arbus was thankful to them for because they meant well even if Ater's previous actions when she betrayed their world and acted like a child herself might've shown she didn't. "I don't know if she'll accept them…" Arbus added, unsure the white haired cat demon would like a bunch of cards, letters, and drawings just to help her feel better. Although it was appreciated, Arbus believed these nice things wouldn't make her twin sister happy. Only their parents would.

"Maybe so, but we don't know if she will or not," the angel pointed out, adopting the same approach Ater took when making the argument about their parents: that they needed to try.

Uncertain as to whether she should've given Ater space and let somebody else deliver these to her, Arbus mulled over whether she should've done it. The angel was apparently hoping the cat demon would take the initiative as indicated when she called the kitty out into the hallway to bring them up. Arbus didn't want to trouble others by being a burden, so she felt she probably needed to deliver these paper trinkets to her sister. In spite of how unsure she was, the cat demon had a choice to make: either be the courier, or politely ask if somebody else would do it for her. Sighing softly, she eventually made her decision after a couple minutes of thinking it over. "Fine, I'll go see her."

"Nobody's forcing you, Arbus. I or someone else could go in your stead," the angel meant to reassure the kitty, though Arbus shut her eyes and raised her hand to politely decline the offer.

"It's alright, I can do it. I'll deliver these to her personally. It really should be me."

"If you're absolutely sure you want to do this, I shall not stop you, Arbus. I only hope she'll be thankful for these get-well gifts once you deliver these to her," the head attendant commented.

"Thank you," Arbus responded and closed the lid on the case, picking the thing up to place it under her arm so she could continue eating her sandwich. Unwrapping the plastic while walking out of the daycare center to the elevator nearby, the cat demon pressed the call button on it. Taking another couple bites while waiting for it to come down, the kitty stepped in with a few other faculty members from the castle's staff and pressed a button for the top floor. Silently eating and listening to their conversation, not joining it because it was rude to stick her nose in their business even if a regular topic like the news they discussed was okay to talk about, Arbus waited for her stop. They got off a few floors ahead of her as another employee got on and departed a floor below the top.

It was quiet on the top floor aside from a couple employees going from the office down to the stairwell, delivering files and reports while the Goddess and Devil did their work. The footsteps they made echoed through the area, and so did Arbus' as she made her way up the stairs to deliver the drawings to her twin sister. Whether Ater wanted them or not was up to her, but Arbus wasn't going to say anything to the white haired cat demon. Ater most likely didn't want to talk to Arbus, and that was fine with the black haired kitty because all she had to do was drop the stuff off. There was some kind of red substance on the floor, but only in small droplets anyone could barely make out. However, Arbus made no note of them because she didn't know what the substance was.

Approaching the bedroom they used to share together, Arbus quietly knocked on the door. Receiving no response, she tried again and wasn't answered yet again after her second attempt. An angry individual like Ater probably wouldn't have answered, so Arbus merely sighed and grabbed the doorknob to open the door. Pushing it forward, she stepped into the room and sauntered to the nightstand by Ater's side of the bed. Her eyes were shut as she strode forward, though she opened them while placing the case onto the nightstand. At first she didn't catch it right away, but she saw something else there which caught her attention. Arbus' eyes widened as she picked whatever the thing was up after removing some tissues that covered it. The object in question was a razor, though that was not what gradually began to shock the cat demon and horrify her as she realized what her sister might've done, and it frightened her because of the implications this discovery meant.

There was fresh blood on the razor. It had been poorly wiped off with the tissues that were also showing bits of blood on them. "W-wha…o-oh my god…" Arbus whispered in horror as she dropped the razor onto the floor with the plastic from her lunch, wondering what Ater was doing and where her twin sister could've gone. Initially confused about her twin's whereabouts, her eyes suddenly bulged out further when her mind made a worrying revelation about those red spots she'd seen on the floor. Whipping her head towards the door and rushing out to where she first saw those spots, Arbus knelt down and sniffed the red substance. There was no doubt about it: it was blood.

Not just anyone's blood… _Ater's blood._

"N-no…O-oh my g-god, Ater…" Arbus stood up straight, stressing out over what her twin sister could've been doing because this sudden discovery terrified her beyond other fears she may have entertained in the past. Catching sight of more red spots close by, Arbus ran to them and saw that it was more blood. She realized Ater was leaving behind a trail of her own blood on the floor. The trail was still slightly fresh, and it led to the stairwell where Arbus ran to while following the blood stains on the floor. Nobody else must've noticed them due to how small and sporadic it was, and Arbus was lucky to have found the tool that contributed significantly to the blood's source. It was a blessing she discovered it—at least she hoped so if Ater was found to see if she was alright.

"ATER!" Arbus cried out, throwing the door open and receiving a groan of pain instead of her sister's voice which she hoped to hear. Unaware of who was on the other side, she whirled and confronted the other individual there to apologize for the rash action on her part. The kitty knew it wasn't Ater because the voice sounded different, yet she could also tell it was a woman she hit by accident—and she also knew who exactly it was. "M-miss Grora!" she yelped in alarm, concerned about what she did while also worrying for her sister's life. "I-I'm so sorry! I didn't know you had been there!" Thankfully she apologized, hoping the angel wasn't too mad with her to accept it.

"Gah, what the hell, Arbus?!" Grora barked at her angrily, irritated that her spree of paying no attention to the cat demons ended because of what the black haired sister just did. "Watch where you're going next time! You could've knocked me down the stairs!" It was a good thing she caught the railing as she was stumbling backwards, otherwise she really would've fallen. The angelic lady would've also continued this little rant if she wanted to, though Arbus seized her by the shoulders.

"Miss Grora, have you seen Ater?! Do you know where she is?! I can't find her!"

Grora simply shrugged, beginning to calm down. She didn't care where the other kitty was, but figured she might as well answer the inquiry anyway. "How the hell should I know? I haven't even seen her all damn day. Besides, I thought you two had a serious falling out over your parents."

"Y-you haven't?!" the black haired cat demon began to panic more when she noticed more blood on the stairs leading up to the roof out of the corner of her eye when she was looking around for any sign of where her twin sister went. "O-oh, my god, Ater!" she mewed timidly, running up. Somewhat confused as to why Arbus was fretting over her sister, Grora saw the blood droplets too and stepped over to examine them. Taking a handkerchief out of her pocket, she dabbed it against the floor to wipe the blood off for a closer analysis. The angel couldn't tell whose blood it was for certain, though Arbus' frightened demeanor suggested it could've been Ater's. Concerned another attack from sun angels who might've broken into the Gray Garden again was underway, Grora ran up too to follow the cat demon. She was without a weapon and hadn't called for backup, meaning she'd have to rely on her martial arts again just like when he first reappeared to her at those stables. Although the thought occurred to her that Lenny might've tricked them, she cast that notion aside because she knew Wodahs was strong and that the former sun angel wasn't trying to trick them.

"Arbus, wait!" she tried to warn the black haired kitty if she could hear her. "There may be enemies nearby! Don't rush into the fray, you idiot!" Yet her protest went unanswered as a scream broke out from the open door at the top of the stairs, followed by a terrified cry from Arbus.

"ATER!"

Quickening her pace, Grora ran up the stairs and emerged outside on a balcony which had pathways to other parts of the roof for maintenance purposes, or to just simply hang out. Yet there was another purpose in mind which she felt the white haired cat demon had in mind. Not seeing a single trace of the two kitties, the angelic woman was sure the scream came from the left and went over to investigate. Turning the corner at the end, Grora's eye suddenly widened somewhat while her mouth hung open slightly at the sight of what she was now witnessing in utter confusion.

Arbus was on the other side of the balcony…and Ater stood on the railing in front of her.

"Ater, please get down from there!" Arbus cried out in terror, reaching for her sister's hand. "N-no, don't do this, p-please, you're scaring me!" She would've approached, but was frightened. One false move and Ater would leap off the railing or drop off it on purpose. "Please come down!"

"No…" Ater murmured softly after a bit of silence, listening to the sound of the wind while it blew past her, brushing up against her body and blowing her hair back. Her eyes were shut tight, her face drenched in tears as she began to mentally prepare herself for her inevitable release. She'd come this far now, and made the decision to not turn back since there was nothing left for her here in this world. "I shall not…" Her voice was somber, devoid of all emotion as she cut all ties to this world. She believed nothing was holding her here anymore, hence why she felt this was necessary. Blood dripped down from her wrists, obviously having been slit with a sharp item or weapon, and she was very pale. The fact she stood there on the railing showed she wouldn't listen to reason.

"Don't say that, Ater! I-I'm you sister, I-I love you so much! P-please don't do this, Ater!" But Arbus' pleas went unheard, and apparently Ater didn't care for them as evident in her response.

"You are not my sister...not anymore…You do not care about us…about them…"

"T-that's not t-true!" Arbus protested, hoping to dissuade her sister from this. "I am indeed your sister, Ater! I do too love you and care about you! I-I know we fought and all, but I-I'm really sorry! P-please, just come down and let's talk about this! "D-don't put us through this! You mean so much to us! We don't know what we'd do without you, Ater!" Yet her attempt was in vain.

"If I meant so much…you all would've made the effort to try…"

"W-we will try, Ater, we will!" Arbus continued to beg her sister to not do this, hoping she would. Yet her promise just then only consisted of words—empty words that had no meaning since actions were required. Actions spoke louder than words, after all, and Ater only wanted actions.

"You did not…you will not…" Ater responded, horrifying her sister because Arbus became too speechless at this point since she truly believed her twin was really going to do this. However, Grora came forward to try and at least contribute to the debate even if she was going to be blunt.

"Ater!" she called out and stormed over to them, using Arbus as an imaginary line to keep herself from proceeding any further. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing?!" Despite this display already demonstrating what Ater's intentions were, she needed a motive for the endeavor. "What do you think will happen?! Do you realize what you're doing won't solve anything?!"

"It will, Miss Grora…it shall solve a problem plaguing my life…" Ater replied somberly. "I know exactly what will happen because this is the only way...the only way I can see them…"

"You don't even know if they're dead or not!" Grora pointed out, putting forth a point that wasn't supported by evidence yet because they had no proof of that. That should've stopped Ater.

"I do…" the white haired kitty responded. "She told me…" That must've been a reference to the lich demon who most likely lied to her when they made that deal. Perhaps the lich demon's deal included telling the cat demons about how their parents died. Yet it had to have been a lie.

"You should know damn well by now that she's not to be trusted!" Grora countered.

"And what about you all…? Have you tried to find leads…?" Ater inquired, but didn't give them a chance to answer her questions. "I did, but nobody cares…nobody will try to hear it…"

"Because they're untrustworthy!" the angelic woman shouted.

"Precisely why you refuse to try…" the white haired kitty argued dismally. This approach to the problem was exactly the same as what Robin brought up in one of the angel's dreams. "You do not care…none of you do…I shall not argue this any further because you won't listen to me…"

"And just what the hell are you planning on doing about it?!" Grora challenged her.

Ater took a deep breath, ready for the plunge she was going to make. "I go to my parents…" And with that said, the white haired cat demon shut her eyes after having opened them during her conversation with Grora and Arbus to gaze at the ground far below her…and dropped off the roof.

…

 **Yet again another somber cliffhanger that may also be considered quite dark. After I reached this point of the chapter yesterday, I debated with myself on whether to lengthen the chapter any further. I eventually came up with an idea last night of what to do for the chapter following this one which will be when Ater's fate is determined. Again, I do apologize for the turn this story took, and I do not advocate for suicide as there are other solutions to problems that can be solved by other ways. Although some cultures may consider it to be honorable in cases like martyrdom or kamikazes because the death might make a cultural/religious/social impact, my personal opinion is that suicide will only make others sad because the individual has/had a lot to live for and will be dearly missed by those who cherished the individual. My heart goes out to those who have committed suicide and those who were affected by it. It's a mournful topic, one that can cause an impact regardless of the circumstances which was why I felt it could be incorporated into this story because of what the story is about.**


	19. Chapter Nineteen: Memories Together

_"Oh my…Kcalb, what have you found? Are those…children?"_

 _"Infants to be specific, kitten demons I discovered recently," the Devil explained, keeping his coat wrapped up in a warm bundle in his arms. The two kittens squirmed within his grasp until they both eventually settled down. Snug in Kcalb's warm embrace, the babies mewed affectionately and reached their tiny paws out to press them against the sleeves of his arms. They were comfy in the makeshift bed he provided them, unaware of who he was since their eyes were closed. The two of them were also shivering slightly from the cold they were subjected to outside, but the Devil had begun to warm them up. "I don't know where they came from or who their parents were, though I do have a piece of a basket they were in which broke. No names were on it, and the poor girls were curled up together at the edge of a river. I thought I might as well take them in when I saw them."_

 _Getting out of her chair, Etihw left her desk to approach the kitten demons so she could pet them gently. They mewed softly at her touch, welcoming the warm feeling of somebody showing a great deal of concerned affection for them. "They're so tiny…" the Goddess whispered quietly as she didn't want to wake them up. "Do you think they could've been abandoned by their parents?"_

 _"Maybe…" Kcalb concurred when a mournful thought occurred to him. "Or worse." That second remark worried the Goddess, making her eyes widen as he continued to speak. "I suppose we should organize a search for their parents and any close kin if any. Maybe they'll come forward soon to collect them." His idea made sense and she nodded in agreement, holding her arms out to take the two kittens from him. Looking down at them, Etihw began humming a soft tune for them._

 _"What shall we do if nobody comes, Kcalb?" she then asked, interrupting herself._

 _"Then we put the girls up for adoption," he responded simply with no further elaboration._

 _"But who will take them in?"_

 _"I don't know, somebody who might want to adopt children can make the decision." While what he said did make sense too, the Goddess felt that was a coldhearted comment because of how he said it. The Devil was the one who rescued them, yet he was now letting others make the decision of how these poor kittens' fates would be determined. She scowled at him and he noticed out of the corner of his eye without turning his head. "I've no experience caring for children, Eti. I've never even taken care of pets before either. Somebody more experienced should have them instead."_

 _"And what if nobody with such experience will accept them as foster daughters, Kcalb?"_

 _"They I guess they may be in some sort of orphanage until they grow up. I know of a place in another town that operates as such, a former chapel with a hospice connected to it. We can send them there until either their biological parents show up, or if someone else adopts them," he stated, thinking it was a good idea because it was the only notion he could think of at the moment. "They might even go to a pet store if they don't have humanoid forms," was another suggestion he voiced._

 _"That's it?" Etihw murmured, somewhat displeased with his ideas. "An orphanage or pet store?" Although she was aware of the fact that the concepts sounded logical, the Goddess thought he was just being lazy about taking them in—unable to see the irony of her own laziness, and even if she did, she childishly refused to acknowledge it. "Kcalb, you really do need to care for others."_

 _"I do, I'm just not good taking care of pets or children," he replied when Etihw placed his coat back into his arms with the kittens still there. "You're not suggesting we adopt them, Eti?"_

 _"I am," she responded affirmatively on behalf of the kitten demons. "You saved them both, Kcalb. That'll mean something to them when they learn you rescued their lives from what might've been an unpleasant future for them and what also may have been their inevitable deaths. You know they wouldn't have survived on their own had you not come along to save their lives, Kcalb."_

 _"Anyone else in the same area I found them in would've done the same."_

 _"True, but was anybody else there at the time you discovered them there?"_

 _The Devil shook his head. "No, at least not that I know of, Eti, but—"_

 _Etihw held her hand up to interrupt him, shutting her eyes temporarily before opening them to speak. "No buts, Kcalb, you are their savior, their hero. I know that fact alone might not qualify you to be their foster father, but look at them. See how comfortable they are with you?" She pointed down at them and he averted his attention towards the kitten demons in his embrace. "These poor girls are accepting you even though they don't even know who you are yet. They can't see you and I bet they can't even hear our conversation yet for that matter. Still, they can feel you, Kcalb, and they have come to recognize your presence simply by that feeling alone. You're warming them up, plus you're being very gentle and tender with them. They greatly appreciate what you're doing for them, and I'm positive they don't want to be separated from you because of this sweet bonding."_

 _"You really think they're growing attached to me?" Kcalb inquired, watching the kittens._

 _"I do not think, Kcalb, I know," the Goddess clarified for him. "They wouldn't bear parting from you for too long, and they don't want to go too far away from you either." She put a hand on his shoulder and stared into his eyes when he turned to her. "We can do it, Kcalb. We could adopt them and take care of these girls if their true parents don't show up." Smiling warmly, Etihw then averted her own gaze to the kittens as she tenderly pet them again. "We'll be their parents for the two of them, and together the four of us will be a loving family for them both." Bending her head, the Goddess shut her eyes and kissed the kitten demons' heads gently to give them motherly love._

 _"I see…" Kcalb murmured, also beginning to pet them. "Maybe you're right. Perhaps we can take them in under our own wings, but only if their real parents aren't found or don't come to claim them." Gradually he began to feel like giving the idea of raising these girls a proper thought. The idea didn't sound awful since it wasn't that bad, and he was starting to favor it as he continued to observe the kittens sleeping in their makeshift bed. Despite being unsure about this, the Devil decided not to raise more objections to this decision not just because he did not have any further complaints, but also because he realized he was becoming very attached to these precious kittens._

 _"What should we call them?" Etihw inquired, wondering if they should've given these girls names. "I assume their parents gave them names, but if not and they don't pick their daughters up whenever they hear we have found them, we'll have to figure out names for them. Got any ideas?"_

 _Kcalb thought about it for a few moments, going over possible names for the girls until he came up with two that sounded perfect. "Their names shall be Ater and Arbus," he declared._

 _"Ater and Arbus…" Etihw murmured, consenting to the names he chose by nodding. "Very well, Ater and Arbus it is; the two of them shall be known by these names from this day forward."_

…

 _About a few years later, the two kittenish demons had grown up since they were first taken in as infants. Neither of them knew who their true biological parents were, so they naturally looked to Kcalb and Etihw as the ones who filled those roles, plus they even considered Wodahs to be an uncle to them. Life was good for the kitties now that they had developed into their humanoid forms and were beginning to learn their vocabulary. Ater and Arbus were very happy, enjoying life with their newfound forms which enabled them to have more fun than they usually did in their kittenish appearances. They especially liked it when the Goddess would play with them, and sometimes the Devil got in on the activities too to make them happy, seriously playing the role of their father well just like how Etihw took up the position of their mother. Although they were a foster family of sorts, the five of them were much like a normal family even if only Kcalb and Wodahs were kin by blood._

 _For the past few years, Etihw and Kcalb rotated their duties and responsibilities so the two of them could take turns spending time with the kitten demons. The Goddess and Devil each spent about a couple to a few days getting work done one after the other, so there was always a parental figure in the kittens' lives throughout the days. Even the Head Angel also helped out at times since he included himself in the rotational cycle. Some employees joined in too whenever they had some time to babysit the girls if the three of them couldn't make it on occasions when work piled up. The fault for that rested entirely with Etihw, and the Goddess would spend some time teasing the Devil and Head Angel for being workhorses while playing with them. "All work and no play make those guys dull boys," she once remarked playfully to make Ater and Arbus laugh and repeat it to them._

 _As time went on, however, the prospect of giving them an early education in tune with their playing was important to help Arbus and Ater develop. The two girls were maturing in their growth as far as their physical traits went, though they needed to develop mentally too. That way the girls could become smart by learning subjects such as vocabulary skills, mathematics, and a variety of other skills they would need to get through life on their own if they were ever by themselves without the foster family they had known for all their lives to help them. Skills were both useful and rather necessary depending on what career they chose to pursue, hence why it was important to educate Ater and Arbus. That was why Kcalb and Etihw decided to place them into the daycare center once they were old enough for it so they could start getting academic skills at a pace they could follow._

 _The castle's daycare center was a great place where they began their lessons. It was close to Kcalb and Etihw, both of whom worked on the top floor with Wodahs, while the daycare center was located on the ground floor. The trip didn't last too long since they took the elevator and then simply walked over to drop the kittens off. The kitties stayed there until the time came to pick them up later each evening. This became a daily routine that became part of their lives every day._

 _However, there was one day in particular when one attendant was out sick as another was attending a wedding in another town. This day was different because only one attendant was ready and available in the room Arbus and Ater were in. That made it difficult because there were several more children than usual that day, and keeping an eye on everybody was becoming stressful. This gave some of the more mischievously playful children opportunities to pull pranks that, while still harmless and fun all the same, did garner attention from the lone attendant at one point. She would lightly chide them for what they did before turning to another little prankster to chide him or her._

 _Even curious children found themselves facing her whenever they tried to investigate some kind of mystery that seized their attention if it wasn't appropriate enough for them or was complex for their minds to understand early on in their lives. While the former received similar chiding, the latter was alleviated by simple explanations they could understand. Ater and Arbus certainly fit in this category of children who were mesmerized by new things that intrigued them, though they did something no other child at the daycare center thought about before—at least in their group. They noticed the door was ajar at one point while playing with educational toys, and walked over to see what was outside. Peeking out, the two kitten demons could see another open door tempting them._

 _"That goes into the castle lobby, Arbus," Ater observed, whispering softly while enthralled by the curiosity afflicting her and her black haired twin sister. "What do you think's out there?"_

 _"Into the castle lobby it goes, Ater," Arbus replied whimsically, smirking at this prospect. The idea of going out to explore the castle unattended sounded appealing to her because it meant they could see what else Kcalb and Etihw hadn't shown them during their early years. For the first time they could pretend to be adventurers exploring a newfound location their imaginations could improve upon with all sorts of excitingly fun scenarios. "Out there is what you think, Ater."_

 _"What I think?" Ater wondered what her twin meant by that. They had only begun to make use of the cute mannerism of speaking that would distinguish them later in their lives. Arbus might have already figured out how to utilize it, though the logic still confused Ater as she could not even comprehend it that well. "Will it change if I think it's different?" she asked, unsure if a perception of this place—hers—would affect how she visualized stuff with her eyes and mind via imagination._

 _"If it's different, it will change," Arbus said and took a couple steps out with the attendant unaware because she was paying more attention to other children and didn't see them at the door. "Come on," she goaded her sister into following her out, "let's go check it out, Ater. Come see."_

 _Ater shuddered nervously, afraid of what would happen. She was scared of infuriating the attendant if they were to leave unsupervised by an adult, and also of what they might find out there. Her biggest fear at that period of her life had to do with monsters that may have lurked everywhere, even outside of nightmares she might've had on some occasions. She was not aware of how she would've felt if she was separated from Arbus, though that too could've been a potential fear of hers. "I-I d-don't know, Arbus. W-what if we get in t-trouble for this?" she asked with uncertainty._

 _"It'll be fine," the black haired kitten demon smiled cheerfully, wanting to encourage Ater onwards with her. "The castle is a safe place. Nothing can get in because bad things are kept out. Castles are invincible, they cannot be broken by anything." Her logic seemed to make sense since that was the conception Etihw instilled in them via all the storybooks she read to them each night. "Lady Etihw says so, so there is no way they can ever fall. You trust Lady Etihw, right, Ater?"_

 _Ater swallowed, unsure if she wanted to do this or not. Yet she didn't want to split up from Arbus. "A-alright, I-I'll come…" she murmured softly with great hesitation before exiting as well._

 _"You made the right choice, Ater," her sister complimented her and opted to give Ater the reward for having made the decision to stick with her. In her mind, this adventure was going to be a very fun roleplaying game which necessitated the need for experience points and awards. "Take your pick: do you want a spell that creates rainbows, or a spell that produces bunnies?" She gave her two choices, confusing Ater at first until she clarified it. "Your reward for quest completion." That still baffled the other kitten demon as they tottered to the other door and peeked into the lobby to see what was outside. "This is a game, Ater," she added, making Ater perk up happily at that._

 _"Oh, a game!" the white haired kitten demon chirped in spite of their voices needing to be quiet now for the sake of their fun game. Her eyes sparkled joyfully as she thought of so much fun they could have playing it. Now she understood their exploration of Blancblack Castle would be a game, an activity to occupy their minds and time by playfully teaching them about the surroundings around them. "I didn't know that, Arbus!" Ater went on, shutting her eyes and clapping while she hopped several times. "In that case, I'll take the bunny spell and you can have the rainbow spell."_

 _"Certainly, Ater," Arbus conceded to that decision. "I'll make rainbows; you, bunnies."_

 _"Okay, Arbus," Ater replied happily, accepting her role in their arrangement as Arbus did too. "Where shall we go first with our newfound powers, Arbus? Can they make everyone happy?"_

 _"Yes, indeed, they can, Ater," Arbus responded as they approached the elevator. "Let's go see Lord Kcalb and Lady Etihw first to show them and Uncle Wodahs our new powers. I know we can make Lord Kcalb happy with them, and Lady Etihw and Uncle Wodahs could help us too."_

 _"Alright, which floor are they on, Arbus?" her sister inquired as they came to the elevator and stood in front of it. Nobody noticed they were there since no one was paying attention to their position at the moment, so the kitten demons were free to use it as they saw fit without supervision._

 _"I don't know, Ater, let's try our new process of elimination to find out by pressing buttons at random." Saying this, Arbus ushered Ater over to the panel and gently pushed her down so she could climb atop her shoulders. They were too short to really reach the panel on their own, hence they required either an adult or a bit of teamwork to press the call button. Thankfully they knew it was blank as Etihw had showed them a few times, plus they paid attention other times when Kcalb and Wodahs pressed the same button on other occasions too. "There," Arbus uttered and hopped down from her sister's shoulders after pressing the call button while they waited for the elevator's door to open. It was already on this floor to begin with, so all they had to do was walk inside. "It's open, Ater, let's go in and see what floors are available to choose from. Which one do we pick?"_

 _Putting a finger to her chin after they moseyed inside while observing the buttons, Ater did the same thing Arbus did to her and climbed on top of her sister's shoulders. "Let's try this one," she suggested, pressing the button for the second floor. "We can go from the bottom to the top."_

 _"Indeed we can, Ater," Arbus agreed. "It's better than at random," she also observed this new lesson they taught themselves. Trying to perform a process of elimination was hard if choices were made at random which was why some order had to be involved for it to function effectively._

 _"Yes, for we might forget which buttons we pressed, Arbus," Ater conceded the point._

 _"Right you are, Ater," her sister commented as they saw a dial turning to the second floor. Watching the door open, they peeked out to look out into the hallway as angels and other demons passed by going about their own business while the two demonic children were observing each of the employees go by. Nobody still noticed them because it was a busy day, leaving everyone quite preoccupied with their work to notice the kittens who inadvertently escaped the daycare center as they were—well, mostly Ater since she understood the consequences better than her sister, though still followed her—merely pretending to play a game of some sort. The girls were very young which was why their breakout could be forgiven if they were found and brought back, or if they returned on their own. However, even though the thought occurred to Ater just then, neither of them wanted to go back just yet because they still wanted to find their foster parental family. "They're not here."_

 _"No, they're not. Should we try another floor, Arbus?"_

 _"Soon, let's explore this one first. We've never been to this floor before."_

 _"True…" Ater murmured, beginning to have second thoughts about their endeavor. "This floor is unfamiliar, and we're on our own. Can we please try another floor or go back, Arbus?"_

 _"Don't be scared, Ater," her sister reassured her and led the white haired kitten out of the elevator just as it was about to close on them, saving both herself and Ater from being crushed by the door. "I'm with you all the way, together forever. We can do anything together, and I shall not ever leave your side." Arbus shut her eyes and smiled, wanting to give her sister courage. "Come on, let's go and explore. Besides, I think tackling this level of the dungeon first gave us some more experience. We leveled up again, Ater, so choose a skill this time: healing, or summoning."_

 _Thinking about which of those magical abilities she'd want, Ater shut her eyes briefly as a few moments went by. Eventually she settled on the latter option. "I'll go with summoning."_

 _"Perfect, and I'll take healing," Arbus replied and took the other's hand, leading her sister down the corridor towards another door she had spotted while talking with her twin. "Let's go in here first. Lord Kcalb might be in here, so we'll have to look very carefully for him in case he may be invisible. He'll be so impressed with us for having found him since we can see him all the time." That light bit of teasing towards the Devil might've come across as an insult because it implied he was usually unnoticed by others who didn't pay attention to him. Yet the thought didn't even occur to Arbus and Ater as the latter of them squinted her eyes to try and read the writing on the door._

 _"What does it say, Arbus? There's a word on top, but I don't know what it means."_

 _"Bar-racks…" the black haired kitten demon murmured, squinting too to read it. "It's just two words without the space in between, Ater. Barracks; there must be loads of bars on racks."_

 _"You think so? What if it's a place where soldiers sleep like in Lady Etihw's stories?"_

 _"Maybe," Arbus answered when Ater's second question gave her an idea. "Hey, why don't we become knights, Ater?! Then we can go on all sorts of adventures and take down villains of all kinds, like evil sorcerers and dragons!" She was beaming happily, really getting into this game by imagining tons of scenarios they could pretend to be characters in. "We can save kingdoms, save villages and all, swing swords, and train our friends so they can become knights like us!"_

 _"Oooh, I love that idea, Arbus!" Ater agreed, her eyes sparkling in delight. "Let's go!"_

 _"Yes, let's," Arbus nodded and hopped up on her sister's shoulders when Ater kneeled and let her up. Reaching up towards the doorknob, Arbus turned it to the left and pulled the door open so she and her twin sister could cross the threshold inside. Entering the barracks, they observed a lot of people handling paperwork and sharpening weapons against grindstones while hammering and repairing armor at workbenches. They could also make out some other kinds of equipment the guards made use of, but they weren't sure what those things were called as they only heard about the workbenches and grindstones from Etihw when she described some elements in a story she had told them about once before bedtime. "Wow, everyone sure must be busy with their work."_

 _"Should we ask them about it, Arbus?" Ater inquired, whispering softly because she began to think they weren't allowed in here. Maybe this was a place only adults were allowed to go to._

 _"No, let's not disturb them and go find where they store the swords and armor. Then we'll become real knights, Ater!" Arbus answered her, also whispering because she didn't want to come across as rude by interrupting all the work that was going on. Then again, maybe she didn't want to get caught trespassing where she and her sister weren't supposed to be. Although Ater thought about that latter concept believing it was wrong, she still didn't want to leave Arbus and run away. Taking her sister's hand into her own, the white haired kitten demon was led by her to yet another door with another word on it. It read 'Armory' and again there was no space in between the words. "Arm—ory…" the black haired kitten read that word aloud and pondered what it meant. "I know what an arm is," she pointed to one of her arms, "but I wonder what an ory is. Let's find out."_

 _"U-um, o-okay…" her sister uttered softly, stuttering her words since she was feeling a bit scared about proceeding any further. Doubts could do that to someone, especially when they began to have second thoughts about an endeavor or activity like what the two kittens were doing. As the two of them entered the armory threw the door left ajar so they wouldn't need the doorknob, there was an impressive sight which left the girls in awe when their eyes fell upon the sights within. They saw plenty of weapons and armor sets lining shelves, display cases, counters, and chests that this whole room could've been its own little museum. Taking tiny steps forward while enthralled by the sight of so much equipment a knight could use, Arbus brought Ater over to one particular spot and used her to get a boost up. Going on top of a counter, Arbus laid down to reach an arm out to Ater which the white haired twin took so the black haired twin could lift her up just enough to her sister could grab the counter's edge to heave herself over onto it. Already spotting a nearby sword, Ater stepped over to it and bent down to examine the weapon. "Oh, this looks like a sword, Arbus."_

 _"It does indeed," the other kitten demon commented and walked over too, bending slightly and placing both hands around the leather iron hilt to try and lift it up. She grunted, giving it one further attempt before realizing it was no use on her own. "It's heavy, come help me Ater."_

 _"On it," the white haired kitten demon nodded and stepped over to help her. However, the combined efforts of both twins still wasn't enough to lift the blade which disappointed them. "This is too heavy for us to lift, Arbus. Is there something else we might be able to pick up and hold?"_

 _"How about that thing over there?" Arbus pointed to a slingshot. "That could work."_

 _"Really?" Ater wondered what it was and walked over to it, picking the slingshot up. While she didn't know what it was for, testing the strap out by pulling it back seemed to suggest it could launch small objects at things. Her curiosity got the better of her as she spotted a small object, an oddly shaped marble of sorts covered in tiny spikes which felt prickly to the touch when she picked it up and placed it into the strap. Pulling it back, the white haired kitten released the spiked marble a split second prior to when the door opened to reveal an angelic lady standing there. She had not gotten a single word in when the thing hit her face, piercing her left eye and gouging it out. Blood spewed from the open wound as the woman screamed in agonizing pain, and that was when Ater's common sense and conscience told her to drop the slingshot. Horrifically traumatized by what she had done to the poor angel, Ater sniffed as tears started pouring down her face while she cried. It was the first and only shot she made with that slingshot, but it would also be the last since she not only poked the angel's eye out, but gouged the whole eye out completely. Arbus merely watched it all unfold in shock, also horrified by what her twin sister had done. That was the day they first got in trouble for sneaking out of the daycare center unsupervised, and they made their first enemy._

…

 _Her fingers trembled nervously as she sat alongside Arbus outside the classroom. The two of them were at school, waiting for a student-parent-teacher conference to finish. They had already done their part for the meeting and were now finishing up one of their homework assignments due to having left the work incomplete because they had to attend the conference. Both of them helped one another with their homework, solving problems they didn't understand too well by themselves. Their teamwork on this and other assignments and projects contributed to the fact they were good students who always received As and Bs in school because they were quite smart, and the girls did socialize well with the other students even when they weren't together as twin sisters._

 _This assignment in particular was from one of their favorite courses, and they could easily comprehend the material. However, that was not what worried Ater. For the past few weeks, there had been a concern on her mind ever since that one lesson in their health class which was affirmed in the following biology class. She and Arbus were cat demons, yet Etihw was a Goddess whereas Kcalb was a Devil, his specific species being a Domovoi while she had been an angel. By listening well to those lectures and reading the text about those lectures—as did Arbus, though she was not too bothered about the same topic for whatever reason—Ater began to feel uneasy. Neither Kcalb nor Etihw were married to one another, and an angel or deity couldn't create demons or even give birth to them as far as she knew. Yet she and her sister existed, so who gave birth to them? If they were not born, but simply created, who was their master? Did they have parents, or a master?_

 _Such questions were difficult to think about, especially in their situation because neither of them were aware of the matter until recently even if their reactions differed. Although Arbus wasn't showing any concern or worry over the problem, Ater was slowly beginning to undergo what might have been considered an identity crisis. She knew fully well who she already was, but not what her origins may have been. Tension made her feel conflicted about the issue since it left her wondering whether it was proper to inquire into the matter or not. Ater couldn't suppress a shudder, knowing something like this could've caused problems if approached from the wrong angle. Yet she watched the parents of other students at times for whatever reason, not knowing why until learning why._

 _"There, all done," Arbus commented as she and Ater looked over their work to check it for any errors before putting it away in satisfaction. "Looks like we're free for the rest of this evening, Ater. What shall we do later?" she then asked her sister, thinking about ideas for having fun._

 _"I-I don't know, Arbus. I-I was thinking about studying," Ater answered honestly. Yet she failed to hide the obvious stuttered quivering of her voice which betrayed her happy demeanor._

 _"Studying?" her black haired twin parroted the word, shrugging because she figured she might as well go along with her sister. She couldn't get why Ater felt so nervous all of a sudden as they were both very good students. They got excellent grades and high remarks from their teachers, so there was no need to feel upset. However, her sister seemed to be a little tense about something she might not have understood all that well, hence the need for studying to learn about the matter better regardless of whatever unnerved her. "I was thinking more along the lines of playing, but I can join in to help you study. What do you need help on, Ater? Can't comprehend something well?"_

 _"S-sort of…" Ater replied uneasily since she was also afraid of how Arbus would react to the subject in question when the door to their classroom opened as Etihw and Kcalb stepped out._

 _"Lady Etihw! Lord Kcalb!" the black haired cat demon exclaimed in delight and ran up to hug the Goddess and Devil. "How'd it go? Ater and I are doing swell as always, aren't we?"_

 _"Yes, you girls are doing well in school," the Devil responded with a nod and walked down the corridor with them towards the front entrance while Arbus sauntered in between him and Etihw with both hands in one of theirs each. Only Ater trailed behind them, still unsure about whether it was okay to bring up the topic she'd been unnerved over. "Keep at it and study hard," Kcalb went on to advise them both about how to continue making progress despite the fact it was quite obvious they were already following that logic. "You're great students, and you'll continue to exceed any expectations provided you excel by committing yourselves to your studies both in and out of class."_

 _"Yes, sir! We already know!" Arbus chirped happily, concurring with his advice._

 _"And I'm sure you and Ater are applying yourselves to the fullest," Etihw smiled at her as they walked through the front entrance and headed through the courtyard. "Speaking of Ater, has your sister gone somewhere, Arbus? I could've sworn she was still with us. Did she lag behind?"_

 _"R-right here, Lady Etihw…" Ater spoke up somberly, afraid of how to address this issue. Maybe now wasn't the best time, though she felt she couldn't handle the pressure of waiting. This was scary to her because she didn't know how she'd bring the matter up, pondering if now wasn't a good time. Perhaps another occasion would rise in the near future, but when exactly would it?_

 _"Oh, there you are, Ater! I hadn't noticed you were behind us," the Goddess remarked and smiled at her too, wondering why she wasn't joining hands with them as they walked. Etihw caught the obvious stutter in the cat demon's voice as well as the trembling tone of voice Ater used. While it was probably best not to pry and give her space to address the concern at a later time when Ater felt ready, the motherly instincts she acquired from caring for the girls kicked in. "What's wrong, sweetie? You're usually upbeat like your sister? Is everything okay, Ater?" she asked in concern._

 _"A-ah, n-no, i-it's nothing…" Ater shuddered, stepping back and shaking her head._

 _"Doesn't sound like nothing," Kcalb commented, turning to face her too. While his remark may have come across as rude, the Devil's tone of voice was rather plain and contained no malice. As rough as he was, he could be pretty nice at times while caring for others he cherished greatly._

 _"He's right, sweetie, you can tell us if something's bothering you," Etihw assured her and stepped towards Ater, kneeling down in front of the young cat demon to gently stroke her face like she always did. She smiled warmly at her, wanting to help solve whatever the problem was. "Has something happened, Ater? Nobody said or did anything to hurt you, did they? You feel okay?"_

 _"I-I'm fine…i-it's just…"_

 _"Just what?" the Goddess asked softly, encouraging Ater to proceed with the conversation in the hope of finding out what was upsetting the poor girl. "If it's private, I can speak with you in private alone without anyone interrupting us, okay? I'm sure you've done nothing wrong, Ater."_

 _"It's Grora, isn't it?" the Devil inquired at the allusion to the white haired cat demon and her guilt over what she'd done to the angel years ago. That was her only offense, though it was in fact understandable since she was only curious and had been playing with their imaginations due to their childish youth. Besides, Ater was truly sorry about what happened and she had only gone with Arbus because she didn't want to be separated from her sister. "She's bullying you again?"_

 _Ater swallowed heavily, aware that the angelic woman was a problem for her and her twin sister because of the incident. The poor girl failed to suppress a shudder, indicating she was indeed terrified of Grora. However, Grora wasn't the problem this time and she worried about giving the angelic woman more stress by simply reacting to the mention of her name. That could've given the lady incentive to beat her and Arbus because they—mostly Ater—would've framed her for anything she didn't do. Even so, it was true that she did bully the girls even if Ater didn't want to admit that because of how guilty she felt. She did gouge out Grora's eye by accident and accepted pain from her as punishment for that accidental incident, hence why she chose to defend Grora. "A-ah, n-no way, s-she's actually been pretty nice t-to us, r-right, Arbus?" she asked her sister for some aid._

 _"Nope, liar," Arbus commented whimsically, knowing the angel's bullying was wrong and needed to be punished. "She was the one who gave us those black eyes yesterday, remember?"_

 _"So it must be Grora, then," Etihw concluded based on what she heard from them. She did know about the bullying as did Kcalb, and the two of them felt Ater was simply trying to cover for Grora as a way of trying to repay her for the left eye she lost. The Goddess understood how Ater's feelings on the matter made her feel conflicted over whether she wanted justice for the bullying or for the eye by submitting to the pain inflicted upon her and Arbus. "That settles it, I'll speak—"_

 _"N-n-no, i-it really isn't M-miss Grora this t-time!" Ater protested, interrupting her. "She isn't responsible for this!" The white haired cat demon went pale, frightened of proceeding further._

 _"Then what's the matter, Ater?" Etihw inquired, wondering what the problem really was. "Surely it must be something making you this uncomfortable about discussing whatever it is. Why don't you want to tell us? Is it really so bad that you feel scared and embarrassed about the topic?"_

 _"I-it's…I-I…" Ater hesitated to answer, too scared to go on._

 _"It'll only get and feel worse if you keep it bottled up," Kcalb advised her._

 _"Kcalb's right, sweetie, it's really better to talk about things that're bothering you instead of holding it in," Etihw agreed with him, drawing Ater into a hug to comfort her. "Understand?"_

 _"Y-yes…" Ater murmured quietly and took a deep breath, preparing herself for the fallout she imagined would happen in reality to bring their happiness crashing down. She was frightened about asking them, but felt there was no way out of this interaction. "D-do we…have p-parents?" she asked, looking into the Goddess' eyes and watching as Etihw's facial expression changed from being happy to a look of purely worried concern. Ater's voice died out when she saw her reaction._

 _"O-oh…" Etihw uttered, surprised Ater asked such a question at such a young age._

 _"They likely learned about it in school and also from observing other kid's parents," Kcalb surmised, presuming that was most likely the case as he considered why she made that inquiry._

 _"What's this all about, Ater?" Arbus asked, confused by her sister's question. "We've got Lord Kcalb, Lady Etihw, and Uncle Wodahs. We've got a full family. Why do you ask for parents?"_

 _"B-because where did we come from, Arbus?" Ater answered her with another inquiry as she proceeded to make her point heard. "I-I mean, Lord Kcalb and Lady Etihw are nice to us and all, and so is Uncle Wodahs, b-but b-biologically speaking, we're completely different from them! W-who made us and why? Were we born to parents, or had we been created by somebody else?"_

 _"Well, we exist, don't we?" Arbus asked, stepping over to lightly pinch her sister's cheek. "We've got good, happy lives, friends, family; and we enjoy our home world. Why ask for more?"_

 _"I-I…" Ater tried to think of an answer, but couldn't. She mentally asked herself why she'd thought about inquiring into the matter, though didn't know how to answer that inquiry too well._

 _Etihw stood up and walked over to Kcalb. "Should we tell them?" she asked, wondering if it was a good time to discuss this with the cat demons. "Which of us should start if we do?"_

 _"I'll tell them," Kcalb offered and stepped forward to address the two kitties. "Listen up," he then said to get their attention as they averted their eyes to him. "You girls have parents as far as I know, you weren't created by anybody else. Somebody gave birth to you, though we've nothing pertaining to your familial heritage. I found you girls in the wilderness when you both were kittens and we took you in, raising you as if you were our own children even if Eti and I aren't married."_

 _"He's right," Etihw supported his explanation. "The two of us adopted you girls when we found nobody was coming forth to claim you as their true daughters. Kcalb and I love you both so much and couldn't bear to part with either of you, so we and Wodahs have been your only family. Although you're right we're not biological parents to you two, we are still your foster parents by bond if not by blood. Still, that doesn't change the fact you have parents out there somewhere who gave birth to you. We don't know who they are, or why they're absent from your lives, but I assure you we'll do everything we can to find them for you," she promised them with that sincere vow._

 _"In the meantime," the Devil added, stooping low to put his hands on their shoulders since he wanted to relay something to them. "Do not bring this up anymore. While the prospect of getting to know your parents is something the two of you may look forward to because you'll both finally get to understand who they are, there are nevertheless some rather unhappy matters involved. We don't want you girls to be miserable about this, we want you both to be happy. That's why I'd like to ask that you do not talk about it. Even though you don't always listen to me, please heed this on your behalf for your sakes, okay? It's the only instruction you absolutely must follow to be happy."_

 _Staring at him through wide eyes, thinking about the idea of them having parents, Ater and Arbus nevertheless nodded in accord to the Devil's wishes. He was only thinking about them since he did care about them as did Etihw and Wodahs which was why they followed the instruction he'd given them. "Yes, sir!" they remarked, smiling as thanks for the concern and love he showed them._

…

"I go to my parents…" Those had been the final words she'd spoken prior to that decision. Ater thought long and hard about what she wanted to do and she finally made the choice. It was a difficult choice to make because of the ties she was cutting to this world: Kcalb; Etihw; Grora; and even Arbus. None of them and everyone else who inhabited this world could make her happy ever again. They failed her and she didn't have the strength to believe in them anymore. That was why it had to be this way. It was why she didn't want to see them anymore. It was why…she jumped.

Her eyes widening at the thought of losing her only twin sister forever, Arbus gasped with her hands flying to her mouth. She hadn't said anything further because she was reminiscing about all the memories she and Ater shared together, including a few prominent ones. Their whole lives flashed before her eyes, possibly a remembrance of all the fun and joy they experienced in addition to hardships as well, or perhaps one last farewell from Ater via twin telepathy. "N-no…" she could not help but whisper as she observed her sister's form slowly vanish from sight. "A-Ater…n-no…" Trembling uncontrollably since she wished she wasn't so helpless so she could save her twin's life from misery, despair, and death, Arbus eventually found the strength in her conviction and rushed to the rail. "ATEEEEEEEEER!" she screamed in terror, trying to leap over to rescue the other cat demon. Yet, Grora held her back by throwing her arms around her. "Let me go, Miss Grora! I need to save Ater! She's in danger!" Arbus protested, struggling against the angel's tight grasp on her.

"You idiotic dolt!" Grora chided her fiercely. "What do you think will happen, huh?! Ater isn't even flying! Do you truly believe you can even catch up to her at the speed you can fly when she's already gotten farther ahead of you already! Do you want to fly so fast you'll smash into the ground with her?! Face it, Arbus, you can't save her; she's already gone and become a corpse!"

"No, I must save her! N-no, Ater!" Arbus cried, tears pouring down her face. "ATEEEER!"

Hearing the sound of her sister's voice, Ater somehow turned her body around and looked up. Strangely enough, however, the tone of voice she heard was different to her. In her blurry eyes she could make out two indistinct figures forming within her vision. In spite of the fact she'd never seen them before, the white haired cat demon recognized them instantly and smiled happily. She'd come quite a long way and suffered a lot, but finally got her wish. "Mama…Papa…" She reached her arm up towards them to try and feel their presence in front of her as she plummeted down…

When someone suddenly appeared out of nowhere and seized her quickly to save her life.

"Ater!" Arbus cried out as she watched Kcalb ascend towards the roof with her twin sister in his grasp. Still fighting against Grora, she threw her arms out at the railing to see them approach when the angel finally let go of her to let the black haired cat demon check on the other cat demon. "O-oh, my g-god, Ater!" Letting him levitate over the railing to gently kneel down with Ater held firmly and tenderly within his grasp, Arbus quickly got down as well and stroked her sister's cheek. "A-Ater…" She sniffed, briefly averting her attention to the Devil. "T-thank you, Lord Kcalb."

"No problem, but let's tend to her now," Kcalb spoke quickly without hesitation, ensuring the white haired kitty was safe and sound. There were no tears in his eyes, yet he too was also very worried and afraid for Ater's safety. Looking down at her, he brushed locks of hair away from her eyes. "Are you alright, Ater? Say something, let us know you're okay," he requested softly.

"N-no…" Ater whispered weakly, her face completely drenched by tears as she continued to reach up towards the sky for her parents. Her response only worried them because they realized she wasn't fine as Ater mournfully wept. "N-no…M-Mama…P-Papa…P-Please…d-don't go…I-I d-don't want you t-to g-go…p-please…d-don't leave me…" Losing the strength to keep talking, Ater broke down and wailed loudly with Arbus right beside her, tears in her sister's eyes.

"A-Ater…" Arbus whimpered, feeling so sorry for her twin as Grora merely scoffed while turning to look out towards Gray Village, somewhat grateful this problem toned down greatly.

In spite of how thankful Kcalb and Arbus were that she was alive, Ater believed otherwise. Once again they took yet another opportunity to see or hear about her parents away from her. Her wish was left unfulfilled, just like how her deal with the lich demon was left unfulfilled as well.

…

 **Well, that was a tense situation and I'm sure you worried I decided to kill off Ater. Considering how sensitive the subject matter is, I decided she'd continue to live for everyone who cares about her, even if Ater is still greatly upset with them. Don't worry, this issue will be resolved soon in this fanfic. I've got a clear idea of the direction** _Atonement_ **is going in.**

 **By the way, speaking of characters who may or may not be killed off, I will say that I am planning on doing this to certain characters who are both canon and non-canon. There's reasons why for each character depending on the circumstances they are in which I'll explain further whenever specific characters are killed off. I'll not say who they are or when they'll die because doing so would spoil and ruin certain elements of the plots in these stories. If you require a couple examples of characters who already died, consider Ruby and Serenity from** _Inner Craving_ **; I liked those non-canon characters, but they were meant to die in the story.**

 **I also figured out what kind of species could fit Kcalb's character. To determine what kind of demon he'd be prior to, and after becoming the Devil of his world, I looked to A Field Guide to Demons, Vampires, Fallen Angels, and Other Subversive Spirits. After reading this book, I chose an entity called the Domovoi which is a Russian guardian spirit. According to the book, a Domovoi is considered to be an elderly figure—specifically a grandfather type of figure—who is shy and could be seen as either a cat, dog, or as a doppelganger in the image of the homeowner whose house he lives in. He is usually seen either in the kitchen, or in the stables where he helps care for horses as he likes them and cows too—the Domovoi can even speak with them. However, if he's not treated well, he can become incensed and aggressive to the homeowners, even displaying these tendencies to them even after they've moved and didn't let him go with them; however, he'll also take out his anger on new homeowners as well even if they didn't do anything. The book mentions a tale about a Domovoi who advised a girl whose hair he braided to not marry or comb her hair, but she did anyway and was later discovered to have died. I presume he'd killed her out of jealousy because he must've loved her, but that's just my theory of the story. Also, some individuals consider the Domovoi to be a Fallen Angel cast out of Heaven by Michael. Furthermore, there are two subspecies of this spirit known as the Ovinnik and Bannik; both are considered deadly as the former will set barns ablaze even if the owner's inside, whereas the latter will peel off people's skin in bathhouses. There are hardly any means of abolishing a Domovoi from one's home, but he can be placated by juniper, kasha, and tobacco. Even so, the book recommends that the best method of handling a Domovoi is to live with him and to treat him like a member of the family by keeping him even if the homeowner moves away. The reason why I made Kcalb a Domovoi is because he might fit a few aspects of it in my opinion like the old age and shyness.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own A Field Guide to Demons, Vampires, Fallen Angels, and Other Subversive Spirits; it's owned by Carol K. Mack and Dinah Mack.**


	20. Chapter Twenty: The Will to Live

Hearing about the Pitch Black World at first based on the name alone was enough to make one believe it was just that: a world shrouded in complete darkness with no light shining down on the inhabitants and the world they lived in. Additional details described the world's heaven and its hell as bland and somewhat uninteresting in the case of the former whereas the latter was quite fun and lively as opposed to its heavenly counterpart. According to those details, the Corporate Heaven was a corporatocratic civilization in which corporations and businesses held the power and wielded it in a democratic form—the corporatocracy being the primary reason why it got that name. As for the underworld on the opposite side of the spectrum, it was a patriarchal society in which a variety of different political philosophies existed, including: authoritarianism, totalitarianism, aristocracy, and monarchism. Aptly named the Devil's Kingdom partly because of these political ideologies—that, and the fact GriRea herself resided in Satanick's underworld—the sphere of economics and politics that comprised this world was in fact the core of its culture and survival on a national scale.

Regarding the international geography of this landscape, it was one of the primary suppliers of economic wealth among both heavens and underworlds. As per Justim's wishes and the requests of the other deities who provided grants for this world to stay in business in addition to those given by the God of all Gods himself, Fumus was put in charge of the Heavenly Council's treasury. The role was suitable for him since the Corporate Heaven managed funds quite well and was generally in a better position of attaining further power if the Smoking God decided to seize it. Not that he'd make the choice to anyway, for he had no desire to secure more power for himself. The God's only concern as far as political control went was what he already had so far, that being the management of his own heaven. Fumus was perfectly content with his role and didn't see the need for more.

As for the Devil's Kingdom on the other hand, it was quite the opposite pertaining to power and how it was wielded by its aristocratic overlords. Like the Corporate Heaven, it too served as a base of economic wealth in the underworlds; however, the Queen's presence as an inhabitant was ultimately the deciding factor establishing the Devil's Kingdom as the political focal point. While GriRea governed the underworlds as the sole ruler, particular demons she appointed to the position of Devils after recognizing their accomplishments in each hell's rite of passage ran the underworlds as they saw fit. It was they who held power and could decide what the underworlds were to be like, but Her Majesty was a stronger administrator keeping them in check. Still, it didn't mean certain Devils could make attempts to curry favor with her for additional powers they weren't allowed to have at first. Devils like Satanick and Warwick were always looking for a chance or two to further their personal designs whenever opportunities to snatch power were available. In other words, the vassals of this feudal system could attempt to advance if they chose unless GriRea stopped them.

Concerning this world's relationship between the God and Devil, it was perhaps a slightly stable bond of trust and compliance with one another. Their societies traded together and even got together on occasion to develop business relations with one another. Fumus and Satanick were not very close since the former was serious and preferred to work whereas the other had opportunities to do anything within this world. At times, the Devil would be seen visiting the Corporate Heaven on business of to just mess with the angels with some of his trusted associates and minions. Though their jaunts there were hardly welcome since angels were usually busy with their own devices and schedules, Satanick and his demons were not driven away as long as they behaved themselves.

Standing at the corner of a street, watching as angels all walked by dressed in business suits or casual attire that was still related to a business of some kind, Wodahs looked around before his attention averted to the wristwatch he wore. It was three thirty-seven, nearing the allotted time the two of them would be picked up by one of Fumus' employees. Just a few more minutes and she'd be here soon enough to escort them inside to see the Smoking God. They would've waited inside, but the lobby was undergoing renovations with construction workers already underway with it. As he lowered his arm to the briefcase with him, the Head Angel took a short breath of fresh air as he stood there. Thankfully he and Lenny had found a spot where they could avoid the smoke coming from cigurettes the angels of this world used like their God. At least they heeded Grora's advice.

By now plenty of time must've passed in the Gray Garden since they left, whereas the time spent since leaving the hotel they checked into amounted to half an hour. The two of them did not know if anything had happened during their absence, but hoped everything was okay even though they still expected something bad to happen. Nonetheless, the Gray Garden was ready for anything.

"Wodahs," Lenny said his name to draw the Head Angel's attention towards a couple cups of cappuccino he had purchased for them at a vender close by. Handing one to him which he took and thanked the former sun angel for, Lenny stood next to him and picked up his own briefcase to hold it. Looking up at all the tall buildings surrounding them, he couldn't help but feel impressed. The architecture might've looked plain, what with all the similar looking structures made of stone and plaster with steel beams and plenty of wood upholding the buildings and the fact each building was like a tall rectangle—in some cases a big square—but the size of each was amazing. "You've got to admire the angels of this world for their significant achievements as far as construction goes. Everything looks so ordinary, yet each building must be like a skyscraper in their own right."

"I'll admit, it is quite astonishing how they can fit so many huge establishments into spaces like the land on which this city rests," Wodahs agreed with him, taking a sip of his cappuccino and also gazing around at the various companies surrounding them. "Fumus certainly lives up to what people expect from him regarding his corporative responsibilities. I've seen plenty of buildings in similar fashions throughout other worlds, though I believe most of them are in this world."

"I've never seen buildings this tall aside from Blancblack Castle," Lenny concurred. "You know, as a matter of fact, your castle is kind of a like a small tree compared to these trees here."

"True," the Head Angel thought that was a good analogy to contrast the buildings. "It's not very large as opposed to other castles and forts I've been in, though it suits our world nicely. Back when our world was in a constant state of war, I often served as an emissary to other heavens that also had magnificent structures much like ones our heaven—the Overtone Heaven as it was called in the old days—had at the time. Even the Undertone Hell had intriguing architecture in locations I've been to when delivering reports to military leaders on the frontlines of battlefields."

"I can only imagine what such places are like, considering this is the first foreign heaven I have ever been to. Although your world is the first foreign world I've been to, I do not think it may really be classified as either a heaven or an underworld. But that's beside the point. Still, I can also imagine some of the buildings in the Sun Heaven to be as impressive too from what I know about the place. I'm sure many such as the Sun Tower are built so tall they can nearly reach the sun."

"They must be since your heaven's religion centers entirely on the sun itself," Wodahs said and looked over to their left with Lenny when he heard someone call their names and amble over. "That must be the employee Fumus sent for us. Looks like she had no trouble finding us."

"Must be my wings, they're flowing with energy from the sun," Lenny presumed. "They're a different color from normal angelic wings because of that, so I stand out from other angels here."

"You sure do," the young angel, a girl clad in gray—the sweater being of a light shade than the darker pleated skirt which was mostly similar to her socks—said as she approached. Her shoes were black and her hair was white like her shirt. The girl's appearance would've been a grayscaled look, though there was a bit of color in her hair, that being a few blue streaks of several locks tied in the two hair braids. Even the bows holding those braids together in addition to the one attached to her collar and the back of her skirt along with her eyes were also blue. "You two must be Wodahs of the Gray Garden and Lenny of the Sun Heaven," she guessed correctly while curtsying as a sign of respect and as a greeting to them. "My name is Charlotte, and I'll be escorting you to my boss."

"Ah, yes, thank you, Charlotte," Wodahs bowed before her with Lenny to return the gesture as he thanked her for arriving. "We appreciate your heaven's hospitality and Mr. Fumus' decision to meet with us pertaining to the recent affairs that have emerged, albeit however unsettling they've come across as. With all due respect, I'd like to request that we save pleasantries for another time."

"Indeed," Charlotte agreed, motioning with her arm for them to follow her. "Right this way if you'll both please follow me." The two men did so, carrying their briefcases as they went around the other side of the building towards a hilly alley where a door leading into a shipping warehouse or garage was located. Sliding a keycard that served as her ID card into a slot, the young lady had the doorknob in her hand as she ushered them inside over the threshold. "The Smoking God offers his apologies to you regarding the lobby of our enterprise," she explained briefly, leading them to a service elevator that would take them up to the lobby itself. "Due to numorous failures with this building's water supply, we have pinpointed the problem's source to faulty pipes within the walls of the lobby. We are currently in the middle of repairing the problem and renovating the space in question to ensure this issue doesn't happen again. Some work has already been cleared out due to certain spots being finished by now, the elevator being one of them, so we will have access to it."

"This one goes to the lobby, correct?" Lenny inquired as Charlotte nodded to confirm that.

"Precisely," she replied, pressing the call button to open the doors for them as other angels began to cart a lot of new floorboards, paint, pipes, and all sorts of tools into it as well. Luckily the three of them could still get on and they had plenty of room for personal space. "The lobby elevator is just on the other side of this one when we reach that floor, so we shall be taking it straight up to the third floor where Mr. Fumus will be meeting you. He may be running a few minutes or so late since last I checked he was finishing up another meeting on the twenty-second floor. However, he has promised to show up as soon as he can if he isn't already there by the time I bring you in. The Head Angel of our heaven, Taffy, shall also be present for the discussion with Mr. Fumus as well."

"I see," Wodahs commented as the service elevator reached the lobby where the angels all crossed over to the regular elevator while the angelic construction workers stayed on the first floor to repair the lobby. "Correct me if I'm wrong, Miss Charlotte, but isn't Taffy a rare Seraph?" He'd only asked the question because he heard Seraphs were rare angels, exalted beings who would not ever be tainted by darkness, thereby avoiding anything that could turn them into Fallen Angels. A Seraph was also far more powerful than regular angels like himself and Lenny, so having one as a close ally was a great advantage since the Seraphs could potentially rival less powerful deities and Devils. Yet their exceptional status did not mean there were many of them, for their population in comparison to ordinary angels was exceedingly low to the point of becoming quite endangered.

"Yes, Mr. Taffy is indeed a Seraph, you are correct, Mr. Wodahs," Charlotte responded. "I suppose you must've heard about him through emissaries sent to the Gray Garden for the purpose of establishing commercial trade with your world. He was only hired not too long after the angels of your world made peace with the demons there, so he wouldn't have been known during the war between your respective people. Mr. Taffy is one of Mr. Fumus' best employees in addition to his skills and tactics making him the quality strategist in times of war against Satanick. Those conflicts are few in number since Mr. Fumus tolerates him slightly and doesn't believe war is necessary if business is good and flows naturally," she explained, riding the elevator up to the third floor with them after entering and pressing a button to go there for the meeting.

"Seems like business is literally booming, if you'll pardon the pun," Lenny remarked.

"Literally speaking, yes, it certainly is," the angelic girl commented as they stepped out to enter an area somewhat similar to how the lobby must've looked. Leading the two men over to an office with a rectangular table inside and numorous chairs at it, she stepped inside and gestured to a couple seats neat the head of the table. Fumus was already present as was Taffy himself. Unlike the other employees they saw on this floor who were similarly dressed like Charlotte, the Seraph's attire consisted of a short, brown cape over a sweater vest of the same color, but of a darker shade with white, fluffy cuffs. His pants were black and so were his shoes. He had red eyes with blonde hair done up in a slim ponytail and an ahoge. One particular feature of him that looked odd just so happened to be the odd number of wings he had, three in total as opposed to the standard two other angels had until an elevation in status granted them additional pairs of wings if they wanted more. "Here you are, please take your seats by Mr. Fumus and Mr. Taffy; if you will now excuse me."

"Yes, thank you, Charlotte," Fumus responded, nodding his head and bidding her to return to her other duties while the Gray Garden's Head Angel sat down with the former sun angel. This polite dismissal from the God in a white dress shirt underneath his brown vest that matched a rather similar shade of his pants and dress shoes let her go as he then turned to their guests. Although he looked fully awake, bags could be made out just under his grayish purple eyes that somehow went well with his dark gray hair which also had some red hair mixed in too. Even so, the presence of a coffee mug filled with black coffee from a coffeemaker sitting on the table showed he was awake. The only thing missing was the standard cigarette he normally smoked, but left absent on purpose for the sake of his guests since he didn't want to contribute to any secondhand smoke they might've inhaled already in his world. "So, I heard from Etihw your world was nearly invaded by Siralos."

"Indeed, and yours as well from what we heard through Lenny, here," Wodahs affirmed it for him. "Prior to the business we have come to discuss, I would like to bring you up to speed."

Fumus nodded, giving him permission to do so. "Proceed."

"We did not originally know who the invading force was at first since affairs have been as smooth as they usually are. Prior to our discovery of opposition was the reappearance of an angel, one who has caused us plenty of trouble in the past and goes by the name of Hastur." Opening the briefcase he had, the Gray Garden's Head Angel removed a sort of wanted poster—one without a price on the suspect's head since they didn't want to charge him after he left their world, though it was eventually decided to simply warn others against him—depicting the angel in question. "You may remember his name when we sent word warning you about him and his crimes long ago."

"Indeed," Taffy spoke up to confirm the validity of that letter. "We have not provided him with aid at your request and warning, though he has not come to our heaven to my knowledge, the most likely reason being the hatred he has for others, particularly those tolerant of demons."

"And we thank you for it," Wodahs commented before continuing with his account. "Then, sometime after his reappearance, we sent several of our finest combatants to apprehend Hastur for the purpose of interrogating him. Unfortunately, he escaped through a portal; luckily, we gradually discovered the locations of more following this second encounter with him and closed them off. A large squad of sun angels was discovered soon after and we prepared for an excursion into the spot they established as their hideout. However, one of our own betrayed us for a personal reason which has already been forgiven since we can understand why she turned her coat, though she still faced judgment and received a fair charge for the crime. The sun angels were finished off by two of those combatants we sent in to apprehend Hastur before, though most of them were taken care of by one other possible threat we have little information on both before and right now from what I know."

"Long story short, you captured this man here and persuaded him to side with you," Taffy stated rhetorically, getting to the next point of the discussion and gesturing for Lenny to begin his account which he did by clearing his throat prior to speaking up honestly and in favor of his choice.

"Yes, sir, I have indeed made the decision to abandon my own heaven and I'm fine with it since I have become quite fond of the Gray Garden. Siralos planned to invade it and keep the world under the reign of a military leader, choosing to spare the populace after he conquered their primary region where the stronghold known as Blancblack Castle is located as per a deal he made with the girl who went against the Gray Garden for the aforementioned personal motive of hers. They would have been subjected to the rule of a harsh military leader governing them on behalf of the Sun God himself." Opening his own briefcase, Lenny pulled out a bunch of documents pertaining to another invasion Siralos planned, the assault against the Corporate Heaven. "However, as the email they've sent you stated, Siralos also had plans to invade your heaven as well because of your tolerance for demons." Putting forth the documents for Fumus and Taffy to look over, he and Wodahs watched as they read them carefully before the Seraph whispered something to the Smoking God. However, Fumus whispered something back and the two men eventually nodded in agreement on something.

"This is quite the accusation you're both bringing forth to me," Fumus provided his opinion on the issue, averting his attention back to them as did Taffy. "One that wouldn't be believable by any means apart from solid evidence. You've both got that since you brought my attention to these documents, and we're inclined to believe the account you've told us just now regarding Siralos."

"That being said, we must still validate these files to confirm your testimony and then we'll submit the results to Justim to verify the account," Taffy added for the Smoking God. "Our choice to act will need to be based on his decision regarding how to handle the Sun God, but at least we're sure he'll give the go ahead considering the following factors: one, our heaven is important to the economic management of the heavens, and two, we're personally vouching for one another. Since we trade with your world, thus contributing a good fraction of goods and wealth to each other, the preservation of that link between us will ensure the bond is strong for a flow of commercial trade. Ergo, maintaining commercial trade will protect the economic aspects for the sake of not just your world, but all of the heavens as well. Therefore, we are positive he shall decide in favor of this."

"Furthermore, I am also going straight to Justim's heaven after our affairs here conclude," Lenny remarked to inform them of the other part he had decided on with the Gray Garden. "I shall be testifying to the God of all Gods concerning this as well, though I am willing to stay here for as long as necessary to confirm the documents' validity. I can only hope this process doesn't take too long, for it is of the utmost importance that we settle this as soon as possible for everyone's sake."

"Exactly," Wodahs concurred with the sun angel. "Furthermore, preservation of trade isn't the primary motive even if it shall benefit from this arrangement. The true reason why we decided to come forward with this and inform you of the matter in question is because your heaven and the people who inhabit it have always been considered good friends of our world. Our concern for you and your people is genuine, hence why we've made the choice to warn you about this threat. You'll probably say we thought it was a better advantage than simply protecting the commercial trade as you may suspect, and you'd be correct about it since we freely admit it, though we really do care."

"We know you do and we appreciate that," Fumus remarked, displaying a rare smile. He'd never really smiled due to work always being important, but he was thankful for this friendship. It was a blessing to know another world really cared considering his own toleration of Satanick along with the Gentleman Devil's—the Devil chose that name for himself just as he chose the name for their world, but it didn't matter to Fumus since he didn't care—demons. Some of the other heavens were weary and mistrustful of his association with Satanick, though it wasn't too bad of a problem since they acquired resources, goods, and wealth from him. "I'll personally email Justim regarding this issue myself soon as possible once the results are in. I'm also fairly certain that neither Kcalb nor Etihw could make the trip themselves as they certainly must remain behind to protect the Gray Garden from any invasions. Still, I shall also make time to go visit your world myself to check on how the people are doing for your sake just as you did for my people and our heaven." He turned to speak with Taffy. "Taffy, is my schedule open for the following visit to the Gray Garden?"

"Yes, sir, it is indeed. I will have preparations made for the visit while we wait for results of verification. Considering the nature of this threat, I suggest you start now while I stay behind."

"Very well, get right on it," the Smoking God instructed him as Wodahs and Lenny handed the documents over to the Seraph before he left. "You know," he also added, turning back to them, "this doesn't feel like an isolated incident. Not too long ago, some sun angel emissaries were sent here on business. I suspect conducting negotiations wasn't the only business they had here."

"Then it seems like you might need to search for portals," Wodahs commented casually.

"Quite right," Fumus agreed, but turned to another matter. "Now, about that other threat…"

…

It had been two days since Ater attempted to commit suicide by leaping off the roof of the castle. Word got around that she nearly killed herself to see her parents; while the adults were quite worried about her, they opted not to tell the children or any kids out of concern that the notion may have scared them just as it had done to them. Since she was rescued, the white haired cat demon's behavior was virtually crushed because she didn't even do much these past few days. Even though she made attempts to return to work, the employees in the daycare center wouldn't allow it because they thought she should've gotten more rest. In fact, other workers at the castle and in Gray Village said the same thing whenever she tried to help out. The children and kids were also engrossed with their own designs, so they were too busy to play with her and try to cheer the poor girl up.

They were only worried about her, and although they kept expressing it to Ater, the kitty's lack of responses each time she heard somebody say something along the lines of that indicated it was no use making such remarks. All she did was ignore them, no longer caring about what these people said because it didn't make much of a difference anymore. To her, it felt like they were still trying to give her reasons to keep living, and that was a burden preventing her from seeing the only ones she'd never known in her life: her parents. In spite of the fact she appreciated it despite never letting that be known to others, Ater still couldn't help but feel like everyone was just taking pretty much everything away from her: her happiness, her life, and her parents. There was nothing now.

Nothing that could have improved her situation by making it better instead of worse due to that deal she made with the lich demon being broken by Arbus. The others advised her against that deal too, siding with the black haired cat demon only because they were worried about her possibly being lied to or fed truths that may have been mournfully dark and too depressing to handle. While that should've at least warmed her heart, Ater believed it was causing the opposite effect instead.

With nothing to do and so many people showing their sentiments for her, Ater began feeling something else rising within herself after everything she did. It was a feeling she acknowledged as she was already aware of it from the beginning, for it was none other than her own guilt. She knew she was guilty of having betrayed the Gray Garden, having made that deal with Siralos just as she made one with the lich demon, all because she couldn't handle the absence—the loss—of parental figures who were never there. The only time she felt their presence was when she purposely made the decision to fall to her death before Kcalb rescued her. Now that she thought about it while she was lying in her bed, all wrapped up within the duvet around her, maybe seeing them in death was not the best option. She'd have saddened everyone with her death, and her parents might have been angry with her for everything wrong she did, all the offenses she committed as understandable the offenses were. Maybe she was unworthy for a peaceful afterlife; a hellish one would have been an all too justified punishment for the sins she'd committed against her world for selfish desires.

For the past two days Ater hadn't eaten anything or even left her room after her offer to go back to work was rejected in addition to all the other rejections she received. All she ever did was merely lie there as tears poured from her eyes onto the bed. The poor cat demon never wailed, for that wouldn't have changed anything. She just lied there, unmoving…feeling so depressed. While her bedroom door was unlocked initially, Ater locked and barricaded the door as well, not wanting others to see her miserable and become miserable themselves. Yet she was aware they couldn't be unworried because the action of closing herself off to the world due to intense depression was only worrying everybody more because they would've thought she tried to kill herself once again. Even though she wasn't, her choice to not let them check on her to see if she was okay made it seem so.

"You wish for me to provide a diagnosis concerning how Ater feels based on how the turns in this whole affair with the invasion and the unknown lich demon went and affected her?" Mayumi Lingsley inquired, having been called over from The Mind's Eyes by Etihw to do just that.

"Please, Mayumi, we really need a professional's opinion on this," the Goddess pleaded as Arbus stood by her with Kcalb too, the three of them paying strict attention to what the therapist's diagnostics would reveal. "She hasn't been the same ever since this whole problem began, and we are gravely worried and scared it has begun to leave terrible scars on her psyche and heart that may never heal. She already may have been scarred by what she's discovered so far already, as well as by what she perceives from us pertaining to how she feels about the issue and why. Please, help."

"Please, Ms. Lingsley, help my sister!" Arbus begged, on the verge of hysterics as the Devil and Goddess maintained their calm, collected natures to contrast her fear. "I-I d-do not know what else to do! I-I tried talking to her, b-but then she refused to come out of our room, and I-I just want to know if she'll be okay!" Her thoughts and words were scrambled, though coherent due to her attempts to express how terrifyingly worried she was. "P-please, I-I don't want her to kill herself!"

Mayumi sighed somberly, not sure how to best break the news to them. She could be gentle for Arbus' sake and also for Etihw, though maybe a blunt approach was necessary to avoid beating around the bush when the three of them really needed to hear her thoughts on the matter. "How do you want to hear it? I have already formed a basic hypothetical theory, though I want to know—"

"Please, tell us what that theory is," Kcalb requested, politely interjecting to hear the idea. No objections were raised by either the Goddess or the black haired cat demon in that respect. "It's crucial for Ater's sake that we do not prolong this discussion so we can figure out to how to help."

"Very well," the angelic therapist conceded before adding, "though know this: I shall make an attempt to relay this as gently as possible, but it is a sharp statement nonetheless." The latter bit of her sentence horrified Arbus and Etihw, eyes widening somewhat tearfully. Even so, neither of them spoke up to interrupt her as she continued speaking. "I'm afraid to be the bearer of this since this will be bad news to your ears, though I cannot word it any differently." Mayumi breathed, her hands folding together across her lap as she shut her eyes temporarily before opening them again. "Based on what you've all explained to me so far concerning Ater and how she feels, I can put out an educated guess regarding this. According to my calculations as a therapist, a fundamental basis, my conclusion from hearing about her, is that Ater has lost the will to live." Her words were direct, sharp, and to the point. The comments only scared Etihw and Arbus more by worrying them. Only Kcalb retained his composure, though he too was just as shocked as they were despite having seen that the angel's theory was most likely the case from what he knew about the situation so far.

"Is that so?" he asked, somewhat hesitant to voice the question for confirmation.

"I'm afraid so, yes," Mayumi confirmed the sad news as gently as she could. It still did not make the situation any better since they hadn't heard her propose a solution since they didn't know what to suggest either. Her affirmation of the dire level it had reached silenced Etihw temporarily, her eyes widening somewhat as her pupils dilated while sniffing as tears formed in her eyes. As much as she didn't want to accept that truth, the Goddess acknowledged it as the reality it became. Kcalb had also recognized what it meant, and he too couldn't help but feel sorrowed over the rather somber implications of what he'd just asked the angel to confirm for them. Nonetheless he ensured he handled the delivery calmly since he needed to be strong for everyone, including the cat demons.

Only Arbus appeared to experience a catastrophic meltdown when she heard Mayumi utter that confirmation following her reveal in the last seven words of her previous statement before that remark. _"Ater has lost the will to live."_ Her heart was pounding, racing within her chest as Arbus' legs suddenly felt weak. She had gasped upon hearing the worst of it in those seven words, unable to keep her lower jaw from trembling just like the rest of her body. The cat demon's breath became tangled in her lungs, her having difficulty breathing properly since each breath came out in jagged bursts that lasted either very short or somewhat long. Going ashen with somber fright, Arbus tried taking deep breaths and placed both hands on the Goddess' desk to support herself so she wouldn't fall over on the floor because she was already feeling faint. _"Ater has lost the will to live."_ If what she heard was true, did that mean Ater would try to commit suicide again by refusing to eat? If so, did that also mean Arbus would still be all alone without Ater by her side…forever? Was that it?

"You should let her sit down," the therapist instructed them as Kcalb got out of his seat so Arbus could have it. Watching him help the black haired kitty into the chair so she could try to get some rest and hopefully recover from the diagnosis Mayumi gave, the angel readjusted her glasses and offered some additional aid for further clarification. "Of course, that is only a hypothesis. One that requires further discourse to determine whether this is the case or not by distinguishing Ater's feelings on the subject. I would need to speak with her as well so I may come to a more analytically concrete conclusion, otherwise all I have is the hypothesis founded upon what you've told me."

"That might be difficult," Kcalb responded to her offer. "Ater's locked herself in and even barricaded the door last we checked on her. We practically had to teleport into the room to see her. I don't know what you might think about that, though I can only assume she doesn't want to talk."

"Much less see anybody for that matter," the angel added to his assumption, "but you may have most likely reached the correct effect when considering that fact. Still, you contacted me for aid regarding this case and I can only provide as much as I can to the best of my abilities under the conditions that you've related the case to me and also that I must speak with Ater too for additional validation and analysis from a therapeutic standpoint. Without her account, I only have yours, thus only possessing half of the foundation needed for this case to be understood properly because any and all hypothetical theories and analysis are coming from one source alone—namely you three. I cannot make toast without the butter once it's been in the toaster, analogically speaking, that is."

"So you require Ater's account as well so you might provide her with therapeutic aid?" the Goddess inquired as Mayumi nodded to answer the question while Etihw calmed down just a bit.

"Precisely, that is exactly what I'll need, otherwise everything so far is hypothetical."

"Very well, I'll take you to her," Kcalb offered and began to lead the angel out of the office. "I would bring Arbus with us, though it appears she needs to recuperate after hearing what you've said regarding your assumption about Ater. Eti, do you mind watching over her for a while?"

Etihw shook her head. "Not at all, I'll take good care of her," the Goddess answered as she put her paperwork to the side and got up to kneel down by the black haired cat demon. "I can bring her to my room and try to comfort her by seeing if she wants to do something to occupy her mind."

"Yes, please do," the Devil replied and left with Mayumi to try talking with Ater.

Unfortunately, Arbus was still having trouble wrapping her mind around those seven words Mayumi said. That remark was the only thing occupying her mind. _"Ater has lost the will to live."_

…

 _"Ater has lost the will to live."_

Those seven words kept replaying themselves in her head through the rest of that day with several subsequent days afterwards. In that time, Ater's condition became worse while Arbus was feeling helpless as she watched her twin sister go from being healthy to suddenly becoming like a crippled patient in the medical center. The barricade was removed and Kcalb unlocked their room's door to admit others in without the use of teleportation spells. Although Mayumi and several others tried to cheer her up, Ater chose to ignore them on purpose by hiding under the covers of the bed. The white haired cat demon still refused to eat, possibly choosing starvation as her next method of committing suicide to see her parents in the afterlife—or to punish herself if she felt guilty because of everything she'd done—and hadn't budged from their bed in days to even do anything at all.

All the while Arbus couldn't think of anything else as she watched her only twin deteriorate into becoming a former shall of herself, a lifeless husk that once vibrated happily with life. Now a sorry state of herself, Ater was no longer the adorable kitty she used to be in her sister's eyes. She had stayed by the white haired kitty's side throughout the past several days, observing as Ater had gone from bad to significantly worse while trying to spoon feed her meals to help Ater get healthy. That would've only improved physical health; it wouldn't have helped mentally or emotionally. It was a sad state of affairs, especially considering that remark had essentially become a sad reality.

 _"Ater has lost the will to live."_

The will to live…

By definition it was the desire to keep living. One was determined to live in spite of all the bad things that existed if any. An individual with the will to live would enjoy life, finding the best in all things regardless of how sad, dark, or bad they were. Something good was bound to happen. At some point life could get better, or it would not. Still, there was probably some purpose, a good main reason why the individual was alive and existed. The reason in question was always different depending on who the will to live applied to, though the effect was more or less generally the same because such people chose to live. They had motivation to keep going in spite of sad and bad stuff.

 _"Ater has lost the will to live."_

Arbus sniffed, feeling like such a terrible person. Standing at the railing where Ater nearly killed herself by purposely dropping off the roof, the black haired cat demon thought long and hard on what had been her sister's will to live. This spot in particular was probably a powerful space in that regard because standing there could've helped her focus on it better. After all, Ater's attempted suicide had a reason behind it, and Arbus believed she might be able to understand that motivation better in a clearer light by replaying the events leading up to it as well as the suicide attempt itself. Yet it was difficult to really focus when her sister was in a lot of pain and it was all she could think about, making Arbus' heart feel so heavy it was on the verge of just dropping into a deep pit.

The stars in the night sky above her shone brightly over her head, and she looked up at the stars momentarily before returning to sulking. "The will to live…" Arbus whispered, sniffing with tears running down her cheeks as she rested her arms on the railing, her head buried in them. "Did we take away Ater's will to live?" It was a thoughtful question in the sense it promoted insight for comprehending the situation to better understand the issue in question. Pondering long and hard to hopefully read that understanding, the black haired cat demon stared at Gray Village. Recollecting all the fun times she and her twin sister had shared together up until they split apart, Arbus focused on what led to their separation and Ater's later suicide attempt to hopefully solve their problem.

Ater made that deal with the lich demon to hear about their parents, not telling anyone that she made the deal with her. She had to fight Grora because she feared her most and lost to her on purpose, thus fulfilling her end of the bargain. Being a named party to that deal, Arbus only had to listen to the lich demon recount the agreed upon information or telepathically show them a variety of images pertaining to their parents. Yet she cut it off for Ater's sake because she believed Ater's deal would've only lead to her receiving false information from Soa and that lich demon. However, she was also angry with her sister for choosing to betray the Gray Garden to Siralos to fulfill their deal. Furthermore, she was also very upset that Ater chose to trade away her happiness for anything that might've been a red herring on her wild goose chase for their parents. Nothing could've backed up whatever assertions the lich demon and Soa would've made regarding the topic, so it appeared they might've been lying to Ater on purpose for whatever reason, maybe to use her for their plans.

That was why Arbus broke the deal, but now that she was thinking about it…maybe it was not a good idea to break that deal. Considering everything that happened following that choice she made to end the deal for good, thus leaving the condition promised by their supposed foes—though to be fair, Soa likely still was a foe of some sort since she did cause the Doppelganger Murders—with Ater's efforts having been for nothing…Arbus began to believe she did something wrong. A good sister like her would've done anything to care for the other sister, even using discipline to be sure her twin was safe and sound by not being led astray by what could've been false reports. She was a good sister, utilizing such means for Ater's sake and even staying near her in spite of fighting over the issue. Yet that didn't make anything feel better, for it made her out as the bad sister rather than the good sister she was supposed to be. Arbus had focused so hard on keeping Ater happy for the white haired cat demon's sake that she hadn't considered how Ater was feeling about it all.

Arbus thought about all the things Ater did and said. Ater made those deals, first with that lich demon and then with the Sun God. She betrayed their world to fulfill those deals, putting in a lot of effort so her end of each bargain was successful. Her twin sister did all that work, but while those deals went unfulfilled by the other parties for different reasons, it was the lich demon's deal that mattered. After all, Ater completed her term as best she could and the lich demon didn't even deliver in spite of Ater's protests for it to be realized and fulfilled. Ater recognized everything she had done to successfully accomplish her goal of fulfilling that one deal was wrong, but went ahead and committed her betrayal anyway…all for the sake of her parents. She called Arbus a coward as the black haired cat demon didn't want to even try and learn about their parents, and Arbus did the same in return by calling Ater the coward because her white haired twin didn't want to be happy.

Now, after everything that happened since the deal was broken which broke Ater's will as well in turn as a result of that conflict, Arbus finally had to admit that her sister was right. Her twin was correct about trying to learn about their parents, even if the means couldn't be justified because they were still wrong. The white haired cat demon was right to call her a coward since Arbus was only running away from mournfully dark truths by simply accepting them without investigating at all. Granted, Arbus was right that happiness was important, but she let that happiness blind her due to trying to fulfill her promise to Kcalb while also keeping Ater happy. She refused to try, whereas Ater did try even if all she found consisted of lies or truths full of despair. Yet Ater was the one to acknowledge all that and press on in spite of recognizing that concern by being aware of it. Arbus claimed she acknowledged that, but refused to try because she was scared of what the truth would have been. Ater was also scared too, but she had the courage and bravery to face what came. Arbus didn't possess the same bravery and courage her twin sister had. Ater was right; Arbus was wrong.

"Ater…" the black haired cat demon sniffed, shuddering somberly not just because of this wind chill in the air, but also because of how guilty she felt for being a significant cog that ruined Ater's life all because she didn't bother to stand up and face the same things Ater went up against. "I-I…I-I…" Arbus choked out a few sobs, trying her hardest to admit she was wrong aloud. Being alone like this was good for helping one practice, though eventually her sister needed to be Arbus' audience when the black haired kitty would give the white haired twin her apology. "W-what have I-I done? Ater hates me…a-and t-tried to kill herself…All I ever wanted was for us to be happy as twin sisters together, b-but…I-I c-couldn't be there for her…" She sniffed again, trying to say the words Ater eventually needed to hear. "I-I…I-I'm s-so s-sorry, Ater…s-sorry for everything…" A lot of her tears dripped onto the railing. "I-I threw away our chance to learn about our parents…I-I just wanted you t-to be happy…n-not having to face lies or truths that're hard to accept…" Arbus breathed deeply several times. "I-I took away your will to live and I-I'm s-so s-sorry, Ater!" There was a long pause as she continued weeping. "I-I just wish there was a way to reverse what I did…"

"There is…" an eerily familiar voice murmured from behind her, above on the spire. Arbus whirled around in that direction and her eyes widened at the sight of the lich demon's return. "You can put forth the same term as her with some minor modifications to the original deal, that is."

"Y-you…!" the cat demon gasped, shocked she was even being given such an offer. "How did…b-but…" She shook her head, knowing it wasn't good to look this gift horse in the mouth. It was the only opportunity she had to make things right for Ater, and she desperately needed to take it. "N-no, nevermind, just tell me! Tell me what I need to do!" Arbus begged, even going so far as to literally get on her knees and clasp her hands together to perform the gesture of begging. "Please, I-I'm begging you! P-please tell me how I can make my sister happy! I'll do anything you ask!"

"Allow me to explain," the lich demon remarked from atop the spire. "The term originally set by Ater of Skrevera was for the two of you to learn about your parents. In exchange, she needed to fight the one she feared most and lose to her on purpose which she fulfilled regardless of means taken to complete it. You were a third party to the deal by being named in her term, thus meaning you had the privilege of hearing about it; by choosing to not participate, you ended the deal. Ergo, according to the customs to be followed as decreed by our Lord, Ater of Skrevera cannot establish that term once again because it was a one-time offer only passed over to her, and only to her."

"But you said the same term could be made!" Arbus protested, scared the chance was gone.

"With modifications to the original deal, yes," the lich demon clarified for her by repeating that previous part from another of her statements. "As I said, Ater of Skrevera cannot use the same term again, nor can she be the one to make another deal based on that term. She has already made it clear once, and the deal fell through because you refused to participate. As such according to our customs, she can't be the one to remake the deal and offer the term again, also because she fulfilled her end. Therefore, the same term can only be made by another party; you are another party, hence you can make the term. Your role as a third party in the original deal doesn't matter if it broke, so you can be the one to remake it. In essence, your role and hers must now switch so she will now become the third party while you become the second. Although the same term present in an original deal can be made again from a different party, my Lord must present a different term for you to be aware of and follow to complete the deal. I am here on his behalf to deliver it as one of his liaisons."

"F-fine, sure, whatever!" Arbus commented and stood, taking the lich demon's hands into her own. "Please tell Ater and I about our parents! I just want to make things right for both of us!"

"Very well, your term is set, so here is ours: you must disobey your superior's orders."

"Disobey Lord Kcalb?" the cat demon asked incredulously, unsure of what the lich demon meant. "Y-you mean to bring Ater out here and listen to you by disregarding his instruction to not listen and go near you? I-I can do that," Arbus raised her voice hastily, thankful for this opportunity to finally fulfill the deal Ater made. "I-I'll go get her and be right back with her, just wait here!"

"No…" the lich demon shot an arm out to seize Arbus' shoulder just as she ran past her to stop the kitty in her tracks. "You shall bring her to the monastery. You remember the place for you have seen it before." Her choice of venue for the deal was a reminder of what the cat demon caught sight of in the underground city. "Come to the monastery and enter the cathedral. Fear not, for the undead shall not harm you. Soa shall retrieve you and will be your escort to the monastery."

"Got it, I'll bring Ater there right away!" Arbus exclaimed, running off into the castle once the lich demon relinquished her grip and began to vanish, disappearing into the night's shadows.

…

 **Satanick's non-canon title as the Gentleman Devil alludes to my idea of him as a suave womanizer. His perverted nature is inappropriate in my opinion, so I tried toning it down to ensure it is appropriate. This was only done for the sake of my stories, and I do think he may be more sophisticated and refined as an antagonist due to his personality and status. I know it might not be what's in canon, though I'm attempting to avoid putting sexual content in my stories because I'm not a fan of it. It's my personal opinion, so there will be no sexual content. That being said, I can still make Satanick out to be like characters who are still romantic, yet without sexual content so long as I do my best to avoid wording anything of the sort in a kind of inappropriate manner. I suppose these alterations to his character may kind of make him like Kuhn from the .hack series. My choice to tone him down was not inspired by anything since it was my own personal decision, but I'll still include a disclaimer for the .hack series.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the .hack series; it's owned by CyberConnect2.**


	21. Chapter Twenty-One: A Deal Remade

This was it, her heart was pounding in her chest as the black haired cat demon raced through the stairwell towards the top floor where their shared bedroom was. At first Arbus thought of going right for the door itself because she desperately needed to help Ater. Then she took Ater's condition into account, realizing that the white haired kitty might not last for too much longer. Terrified due to Ater's lack of nutritional substance in her body—or any kind of food she'd eat for that matter—the black haired twin sped past the top floor and went down a couple more levels. Her destination was the cafeteria, knowing it was going to be closed down for the day since it was late at night. As much as she didn't want to break in, Arbus knew she had no choice since this was for Ater's sake. That was why she barged through the door near the place, rushing past cameras that luckily hadn't caught sight of her running to the cafeteria's double doors. They were locked up tight for the night.

"Dammit!" Arbus swore under her breath after trying to open them, first via the doorknobs she seized and tried pulling to no avail. Next she attempted to shove the doors aside and barge into the cafeteria by force, applying the full weight of her body against these doors. Both methods had no success, and at this point the cat demon was worried she might not be able to get food for Ater. Although she might've been able to collect several snacks from the vending machine nearby, there was much better food inside the kitchen than in there. Granted, some snacks were healthy, though not really too filling; plus Arbus didn't have much money on her to begin with. While she could've gone to Kcalb or Etihw for gold coins, the term she had to fulfill was to disobey the Devil's orders. Asking either him or the Goddess could've raised suspicions regarding why she sought gold coins for a vending machine this late at night; then again, they might've thought they were for Ater, not Arbus. Still, it was a risky move either way and Arbus couldn't afford to waste more time. "There's got to be a way in there!" she whispered silently, preventing herself from drawing attention which was unwanted. "A-a key, a secret passageway, a breakable window…something!" Then it hit her.

Sprinting towards the balcony close by, Arbus threw the door open, thankful she didn't hit anybody with it because nobody was there. No one would see her smash a window open while she flew over to one. Peeking inside to make sure the camera in there was facing away, the cat demon moved back and thrust her foot at the glass. Breaking it in one strike, Arbus used her boot to clear away shards of shattered glass to avoid cutting herself on them before slinking inside. The cafeteria was completely empty and dark, though she could see in the dark like other cats and was thus able to find her way past the tables. "N-no…" she whispered nervously, finding the kitchen was locked as well. Again, she tried the previous methods of entry that didn't work on the other doors, yet still the tricks were useless. Even the shutter covering the opening over the counter was locked too.

Arbus refused to give up, acknowledging she was losing precious time that had to be spent with Ater. If she went for her sister first before coming here or leaving to return to the underground city, the white haired twin sister might've still fared unwell by now. Fortunately, she caught sight of a closed ventilation shaft above one of the display cases where chefs stored photos of their best meals. Morphing into her cat form to leap above it, she climbed atop to unscrew it. No screwdriver was needed as her claws were fine for the job, so Arbus uncovered the opening and made her way through the dusty vent. All she had to do now was go to her left and make another left to reach the kitchen, but yet again she was temporarily thwarted by another closed opening. This did not deter her as Arbus only had to revert back into her humanoid form to kick the cover off and crawl out.

"Okay, where's the food?" she murmured to herself checking the cabinets and fridges in a search for something good to eat. Her raid on the kitchen was going rather alright so far, though it was beginning to get difficult finding something that was already prepared. The chefs had already used up all the leftovers that day, and there was nothing left since even the scraps were all gone as well. She and Ater were domestic cat demons, not alley cats, hence they ate only exquisite food or meals for children—they still did act like children at times, considering their interests. As nothing could be found, Arbus bit her lower lip and worried about how hard it was to even find ingredients for a simple sandwich or two. Good thing she managed to locate some bread in time, and she even discovered some tuna, fish sticks, and salmon meat she could use to make a few fish sandwiches.

After speeding through the process of jamming those in between several slices of bread, it was time to wrap them in plastic and store the freshly made sandwiches into a paper bag she found in one of the cupboards before quickly using a key she saw in a drawer to unlock the door. Making her way out and leaving the key behind by a cash register after shutting the door, Arbus ran to the window and flew out the way she came. Running through the other door and heading back towards the stairwell, she flew up with her wings for a speedy ascension to the top floor. "Hold on, Ater, I am coming…" she uttered softly to herself, reaching the door and barging through the threshold.

All she had to do was run to their bedroom and enter it to find Ater still lying in bed. Doing just that and hastily approaching the bed, Arbus set the sandwiches down on her twin's nightstand. Hurrying to their bedroom window and opening the blinds, she unlocked it and threw it open since that was going to be their exit with everybody else in the castle unaware—hopefully they were not caught leaving. Turning back to her sister, Arbus swallowed heavily as she approached Ater.

Ater still looked worse for the wear, her ashen form staring unblinkingly ahead, eyes on no individual in particular since she only looked forward. Her mouth was curled into a frown, both of her cheeks slightly gaunt from not eating even though it was open enough to just get small bites in to eat. However large the morsels were didn't matter because she still wouldn't eat, so Arbus spent time helping Ater chew her food while also bringing in meals she didn't have to chew. The kitty's shivering became a bit worse when her twin opened the window, and she looked somewhat skinny from not really eating. Her breathing was a tad faint as was her pulse when Arbus checked it, plus she hadn't bathed in the past several days contributing to a stinky odor emanating from her body.

"Ater…" Arbus murmured softly, going over to kneel down by her sister. "I'm here, Ater."

"Arbus…" Ater weakly whispered, her voice very hoarse from how dry her throat felt due to not having drank anything for several days, leading to serious dehydration. The sound of Ater's voice worried her twin sister as Arbus mentally swore at herself for forgetting to get drinks for her twin. The white haired cat demon didn't even make eye contact with her or even face Arbus, bags under her eyes apparently showing she hadn't slept which also worried Arbus. "L-leave me…"

The black haired feline's eyes widened, her mouth hanging agape somewhat. "N-no…"

"Leave me…" her sister commanded again weakly, in no position to actually do anything. All she could do was say the words which did have meaning behind them as she intended for Arbus to get out. That was her intention, though her twin sister refused to cooperate, wanting to stay.

"I-I will not…" Arbus stood firm, resolute in her determination to stay. "I'll not leave you, Ater. You're my only twin sister, I love you." Kneeling down by the bedside, she reached out and gently took Ater's left hand into her own, using her right hand to tenderly stroke her sister's face.

"You do not…" Ater weakly replied, barely able to really speak anymore.

"I do," Arbus strengthened the conviction in her voice, needing to be strong for her sister's sake. "I know we've gotten into a huge fight over how we treat the matter of our parents, but I am not going to ever leave your side just because of a bad argument. You're my twin sister and I love you very much. That's why I chose to remain by your side even if I wasn't directly next to you."

"You were never beside me…Abandoning me just like you abandoned our parents…"

"Y-yes…" the black haired cat demon stuttered, swallowing heavily with tears in her eyes. It was time to admit she was wrong and apologize for that. "You are right, I did abandon you since I wanted to be happy, and I had also hoped you'd be happy too. I won't deny what I've done to us, what I've done to break our bond, for I did it for both your sake and mine." Arbus sniffed, needing to get this off her chest for good to reconcile with Ater over their fight about their parents. "I tried so hard for us both getting you to see reason and be happy, Ater, and then you disowned me since I wasn't helping you try to learn about them." Tears poured down her face as she struggled to talk, though she managed to maintain her coherent speech even if her voice quivered. "I thought you'd chosen to not be happy by pursuing anything that could've been a false lead or a painful truth. The reason why I broke that deal was because I was scared of what you'd find out, that it would cause much harm for us if anything wasn't positive. I only just realized I was wrong." Arbus threw both arms around Ater's somber form, beginning to cry over her mistakes. "It was all my fault! I've let you down because I was scared of the truth, and I'm so sorry, Ater! You are right, I am a coward because I wouldn't even try helping you learn about them! I'm sorry for not being brave like you!"

"It's too late…Arbus…the deal is off…"

"No, that's not true! The deal's still on! I can make things better! I'll make things right!"

"You can't…I can't see them…" Ater went on, scaring Arbus because her comments gave the black haired feline the allusion that her white haired sister had simply given up. Though Ater didn't have to, what happened so far gave her good reason to. Arbus was terrified of it and didn't like that due to the effect it had on Ater, but it was a reason nonetheless. "I…won't see them…" That confirmed Ater really had given up. "They must be mad…at me…for what I did…"

"They will forgive you, Ater, I am sure of it!" Arbus protested, trying to help her sister by using logic to support a point. "Parents never forsake their children, no matter how unfaithful they are! I was unfaithful while you've done your best to learn about them! I'm the one who should be punished, not you! If anything, I'm to blame for abandoning our family, fearing any hard truths!"

"They will not…"

"No, don't say that, Ater! I spoke to the lich demon, she can help us! Maybe she can let us speak to their spirits!" the black haired cat demon said, putting both hands on Ater's cheeks as she held her sibling's head and looked into her eyes. "Trust me, I remade the deal with her for us!"

"But it…fell through…" Ater pointed out.

"Yours did, but not mine; I made a fresh, new deal with her. I promise to fulfill it for us!" Arbus murmured, smiling as she shut her eyes. "Come on, let's go hear about Mom and Dad." As she said those words, she picked up the paper bag with the fish sandwiches inside it and placed the food on Ater's body after pulling the covers back. Moving her arms underneath the other kitty, she kept one arm under Ater's legs with the other under her back to hold Ater carefully while picking her up. Turning around and walking towards the window, the black haired cat demon stretched her wings out before flying out. Soaring through the sky, Arbus looked at Ater and smiled happily.

They were on their way to fulfilling a deal that had yet to be finished. This time it'd work.

…

 _"Really? He said that?"_ Robin inquired cheerfully, sitting beside Grora in the same dream the latter angel originally had with the former in it. She giggled, a hand to her mouth as she looked at the living angel with her eyes shut briefly. They'd been meeting like this each night since they've been reunited in the dreams, always talking about things like the past, the present, the future, along with various other topics that made up the casual subjects they discussed. This time Grora told her about a friendly poker game she played with the guys in which she came in third while Othros and Rorin came in first and second respectively, and Mitchell was last. Technically Grora was the one who was supposed to come in last place, though she utilized a trick only she knew of to stop it. An elaborate stunt like hers in that game wasn't against the rules, but it wasn't highly supported either. That was why Rorin said she was literally using a handful of trump cards, a difficult practice she'd learned of in that other town she lived in for a few years after True Light was finished because her hand had to actually hold different cards to control her fate. _"Sounds like you cheated, Grora."_

"Hey, nobody was going around the guys' backs looking at their cards," Grora commented in her own defense, aware that her spiritual friend could've done just that since nobody would even see her. They probably wouldn't even hear her for that matter unless Robin put the thought inside their heads via mental images or words that popped up in their minds. "I played fair, even if it was some cheap trick up my sleeve. They didn't complain about it aside from Rorin's remark" She had also laughed, thinking about how that trick won her the race for third place. Othros told her not to use that trick ever again unless she taught it to them and other employees in the castle first, so she agreed to that and began planning a lesson plan for that purpose. It was a simple essay telling them and other readers how to perform said trick, so Grora didn't think further elaboration was needed.

 _"By ignoring my advice?"_ Robin asked slyly, narrowing her eyes rather mischievously.

"So it was you!" Grora concluded, basing an entire theory she had on that inquiry. As they were playing, the living angelic woman could've sworn somebody was telling her something. The advice and which cards the other players had showed up in her mind just as Grora suspected, hence why she felt someone—the individual she playfully dubbed as her guardian angel—looked out for her. "I knew there had to be a reason why I was being given the means to cheat! You sly devil!"

Robin laughed, having blown her cover on purpose. _"Hey, I wanted you to win. Well, you did to some extent by getting third, but at least you weren't last. You're welcome, by the way."_

"You could've just rooted for me from the afterlife," her friend laughed, lightly hitting the spiritual angel in the arm as a playful gesture. There was no malice since she was grateful for aid.

 _"But then your head would've been filled by my overly zealous cheering for you."_

"I'd prefer elevator music over that; it's not as loud as that constant cheering," Grora stated to counter Robin with a teasing remark, yet there still wasn't any malice in her voice. "I don't care how dull it is, I can concentrate better without the noise. Besides, the only reason why I took third was to stop your advice to cheat. I appreciate the thought, but like hell I'd ever resort to cheating."

 _"It's good that you didn't, otherwise you'd have been caught,"_ Robin giggled to suggest a more ulterior motive lurked within her desire to help her friend win the game of poker. _"Although I am grateful you considered my advice in the first place, trying to ignore and stop it was rude."_

"Says the lady who probably wanted me to lose by cheating if I got caught, or win if I was not. Whose side are you really on, Robin?" Grora asked to tease the spiritual angel some more. "I could've gotten in trouble because of you, you know? That's why I avoided listening to you."

 _"Touché, Grora, touché,"_ Robin declared by submitting to her old subordinate's logic. She still laughed, putting an arm around Grora and drawing her close into a warm embrace. Looking a short distance away into the field, she breathed in some fresh air flowing throughout the dream as she then exhaled it. Memories of the war flooded over her, and she could recall the times they had spent together on missions against the demonic forces of Kcalb. Those dark times were behind the two of them and the rest of their world, and all that remained was the future following this present age of peace. _"You know, Grora,"_ she murmured to address that topic, _"sometimes I miss old days when we used to hang out, if not as often at times. Those were not the best of times considering we were at war with the demons, but I greatly enjoyed spending time with friends back then to interact with them. Those were some of the happiest memories I ever made, getting to enjoy the life I had."_

"Until you lost it…" Grora said somberly before posing a question to her. "I never had the chance to ask you before, but who were you friends with besides Clarabella? You were always so aloof from a lot of the other angels all the time. I know I may have been of a higher rank and status than you, but I always thought of you as my superior on the few missions we went on together."

Listening to the question and thinking back on who she knew during the war, Robin placed a bent finger to her chin and shut her eyes. She rode her nostalgia all the way back to that era, such memories serving as the boat she rowed throughout her mind to fish out certain memories. At once she began searching for specific names, and only came up with a couple she knew of. _"Not many, to tell the truth. I was usually by myself doing a lot of reading and enjoying the artwork Clarabella displayed in her museum. She was one of the few friends I had, including yourself as well because I always included you in my social circle as I had great respect for you as you did for me. Besides the two of you, I was also close friends with Ciel and Rigatona. Even Yosaflame was also a friend of mine through Rigatona, and Lost also found a way into my social circle through him and Ciel."_

"Wow, you've even held two of the most well-known demons from Sir Devil's forces with high regards. I didn't even know those guys all that well despite hearing that Lady Etihw was okay with them around at times. I guess she must've suspected they were better than other demons."

 _"They were,"_ Robin offered a bit of further elaboration. _"In fact, Yosaflame was accepted by her since he liked angels and was chivalrous to them. Lost was too, but only to Ciel at first."_

"I heard those two declined the opportunity to become angels because they were still loyal to their birthplace, our world's hell," Grora commented, trying to understand why those two were alright amongst the angels. "I mean, I can comprehend that, but they must've liked other demons, right? Surely they were proud to fight alongside their fellow demons during the war against us?"

 _"They fought loyally for their underworld, but they were not like their people and they did not really like the other demons,"_ Robin explained briefly to answer the inquiry Grora posed. She brushed locks of hair away from her eyes while speaking when the wind blew them in her face. _"I think the fact they weren't fond of other demons was a good reason why they could have accepted any opportunities to become angels. Then again, they were strictly loyal to their home solely since it was their home, but Yosaflame and Lost were very cordial towards angels unlike their brethren. At the same time, I suppose they also wanted to do their best keeping their fellows in proper line."_

"I guess that makes sense considering their perspective of other demons," Grora agreed.

 _"Indeed. Now that I've answered that question, do you mind if I ask you one, Grora?"_

"Sure, shoot."

 _"Why is it that you consider me to be your superior despite being of a higher status and an upper ranking than I?"_ the spiritual angel asked out of curiosity. _"It's true I was more skilled than you, but by ranking and status you should've considered me your subordinate. Why not that?"_

"Easy," Grora replied with a smile, happy to answer that inquiry for her old friend. "I held great respect for you as you've already noted, Robin. Your skills in combat were indeed far better than mine ever were. Hell, you should've been the one to receive promotions instead of me. I only received them since I had associates in high places who persuaded Lady Etihw to bestow me with such privileges. Although I'm grateful for their support, it wasn't so great in hindsight as I always screwed something up on more than one occasion. Contrast to my rather shoddy performance was yours, your streak of well-executed missions that never failed. I got some right, though I respected you because you were better than me. Plus I still feel guilty about how you died for my sake."

 _"And you were not envious of how well I did?"_

"I did envy you, though not to the point of wanting to try and compete with you or despise you for that matter. I simply compared you to myself and did the same with our positions. You've been a far better candidate than I ever was, but I only rose through the ranks quicker due to several contacts who already received promotions. While I appreciated the spotlight, I knew I hadn't even done much to earn it. You did, and if I knew you better before getting promoted, I would've most definitely vouched for you instead. A shame we only met sometime after I ascended in society."

 _"Is that why you usually turned over the command to me on the missions we did together?"_

"Damn straight, I knew for a fact you were much more suitable to the task than I ever was," Grora responded honestly with a smile, giving Robin the praise she rightfully deserved. "In fact, I was also glad to refer to you as my superior and proud to serve under you whenever we worked as partners on one of our teams. You always were a far better role model than I ever was, choosing a more honorable means rising through the ranks than my ties to upper class citizens and soldiers."

 _"Why, thank you, Grora, it means a lot to me hearing you say that,"_ Robin smiled, saying that as she gave the living angel a hug which Grora returned as well. _"Though to be fair, I did not really want all the promotions I received either because I was content simply being in the position I already had. Working with the other soldiers and scouts I knew in my position as a captain was more rewarding to me than all the honors and promotions I received for my achievements. While I would've declined them whenever I received them, my own subordinates praised and encouraged me to accept such awards for my service,"_ she then added, explaining why she took those honors.

"And they were right to convince you, for you did deserve them after all," Grora remarked.

 _"I sure did,"_ the spiritual angel chuckled rather sheepishly, embarrassed over the attention she received in life and from a good friend of hers. She shut her eyes and smiled, thankful for this friendship she shared with the living angel when her eyes suddenly jolted open for some odd reason that had yet to be explained by her. Grora caught her friend's sudden discomfort, wondering what was wrong when Robin quickly raised a hand to stop her from saying anything yet. Perking up her head, she held her breath for several moments before releasing a breath of air. _"Something's up."_

"What happened?" the living angelic lady asked in concern, worried about what her friend felt. "You okay, Robin? Did something happen just now? You know what it might be?"

 _"Something definitely happened, alright,"_ Robin confirmed the inquiry, turning to face her friend to give Grora an urgent response right away to explain what she felt. _"The lich demon came to the castle just now. I could sense her presence outside, just on the castle's roof."_

Grora grimaced, wondering if the lich demon came to attack them. "She and Soa are back, eh? Those two must've started some kind of offense or something against us. I'll let Sir Devil and Lady Etihw know they've returned and sound the alarm—" she spoke seriously, preparing to stand up and end the dream when Robin placed a hand on her shoulder to prevent her from acting hastily.

 _"Wait…"_ she instructed her old subordinate—technically her superior, though she granted Grora the notion of accepting the living angel as a subordinate. _"I don't sense Soa's presence here. She must not have come. Instead, the one conversing with the lich demon is…Arbus?"_

Grora's eyes widened, initially confused by the revelation. "Arbus?" she murmured as she questioned why the black haired cat demon would meet with the lich demon. The latter might have come to see her, possibly to make Arbus the first victim in what might've been a slaughter, though the live angel could not deny there was another implication behind the pair of them talking. There was no way it could've been true, yet she couldn't simply brush it aside like it was nothing. To her it was the same as what happened with Ater when she first met the lich demon. They were probably making a deal; Arbus was likely making a deal with her, just like her twin sister had done before.

 _"Yes, it is Arbus…"_ Robin paused, shutting her eyes to concentrate her spiritual energy on their presences together in the same place. _"I cannot make out what they're saying since something might be interfering with my perception of the dialogue. However, I can most certainly sense they are together…wait, they're splitting up. Arbus went in the castle; the lich demon disappeared."_

"Dammit, I figured it must've been a deal," the living angel swore. "They made a deal."

 _"You must wake up now, Grora,"_ Robin stated, giving the living angel instructions she had already known of because Grora already thought about how she'd go about this. Still, the reminder was needed to ensure the angelic lady didn't rush into this situation without guidance and caution. _"Try to find Arbus first, I can sense her near the cafeteria in Blancblack Castle. Find out what she spoke about with the lich demon and contact Kcalb and Lady Etihw at once. Do not harm her."_

"Yeah, yeah, I got it, alright," Grora remarked, ending the dream as her eye jolted open to find herself still at the desk she used in the barracks. Her office was dark, save for lamplight which illuminated a small space on her desk. Various documents and reports were filed neatly into a pair of piles on one side, the other side of the surface having pen holders full of pencils and pens along with an eraser or two. A laptop she used was in center, resting above a laminated calendar showing the month of March on it as the current month. Immediately shutting the lamp off, Grora pulled a flashlight out of a drawer and grabbed her bow, arrows, and scimitars once she got out of her chair to quickly race from her office to the door to cross over the threshold into the darkened corridor.

"Shit…" she swore, muttering under her breath as she ran past the elevator. Using it would have been a slow trip up to the floor where the cafeteria was located, hence why Grora decided the stairwell would've been a faster way there because she could fly. On her way, the angel strapped the scimitars to her dress and slung the bow and quiver over her back. Sprinting through the door and flying up past the several flights of stairs, she made it to the door to the fifth floor and threw it open. Luckily nobody was there to get hurt by the action, so Grora didn't have to apologize to anyone. The security cameras caught her running down towards the cafeteria, though she stopped right at the double doors to examine them. "These are locked…" she murmured silently, pondering how Arbus got in while turning on the flashlight. She hadn't caught sight of the cat demon, so she was considering the fact Arbus might've already been inside—unless she already left by now.

"That damn cat demon…" Grora cursed Arbus for most likely breaking into the place. She thought about how the feline could've done that, placing a bent finger to her chin as she pondered about any logical options that kitty had to consider when trying to get in. A ventilation shaft could have been possible, though she'd need a screwdriver to unscrew the screws keeping the lid on. Her claws might've worked too. The idea of breaking a window was the second notion that popped up in Grora's mind, and she tested that one first by checking the windows outside by the balcony. The door was unlocked, and she quickened a walking pace over the threshold to examine the windows. Sure enough, Grora found one was broken. "This must be her entrance," the angel assumed aloud even though she was alone and nobody could hear her. "It'll definitely come out of her pay."

Flying over to the broken window and clearing away fragments of glass with the flashlight prior to climbing through it, the angel kneeled down to examine the shattered shards already there before shining her flashlight around the cafeteria. "Not in here, though perhaps she's in the kitchen cooking up a late night snack or something." It was alright for anyone to use the kitchen there since it was large enough and the cooks were fine with other employees and civilians wanting to prepare meals there if other means of eating and kitchens at home couldn't be used at the time. Even Grora had made use of it at times while helping Etihw take care of Froze, Rawberry, and Raspbel due to the incidents in which their parents were killed. Heading to the kitchen right away, Grora saw some kind of object gleaming in the light of her flashlight and went to pick it up, finding it was a key.

"What's this doing here?" she asked herself, trying the door to check if it was locked, Grora found it wasn't and figured Arbus must've forgotten to lock it. The black haired cat demon was in fact smart enough to know this door could've been locked from outside as well via the key, though the question remained as to what she'd done in there. Entering the kitchen, a quick search with the flashlight revealed a broken vent cover lying on the floor. "Seems like she broke both the window and the vent cover…" Both of her theories were valid after all, and she did catch sight of a second ventilation shaft hole while looking around the cafeteria that was unscrewed. "I wonder what kind of concoction she brewed up for a late night snack," Grora said to herself, surmising the cat demon did indeed make something in here. However, there wasn't a way to prove that now until the chefs came in; they'd know which ingredients were missing once they took stock of what was available.

Instead, Grora headed out the door. She needed to find Arbus and interrogate her about that conversation the black haired cat demon had with the lich demon. Something didn't feel right, and the angel realized it had to be the fact Arbus must've made a deal with that strange girl. Her sister had been instructed not to approach the lich demon or listen to her for that matter, yet it seemed it was a hopeless command now that Arbus disobeyed that order. Then again, Robin would've made it clear she was probably jumping to conclusions as would everyone else who would later hear this happened. Maybe Arbus didn't make a deal, maybe choosing to make the lich demon go away, an idea that was plausible since Arbus was against it. However, her perspective might have changed, the opinion turning in favor of a deal after she witnessed Ater's suicide attempt. Grora considered that was probably the case because Arbus had been acting remorseful towards their previous fight. In any case, she had to find the cat demon to validate any theories pertaining to this issue via direct confrontation with her. And as Grora knew them well, she felt the two of them were in their room which she could fly to since their room was just a couple floors above the balcony for quick access.

Choosing to fly out the window again, Grora strode over there and was careful to avoid the glass shards still hanging from the top of the window frame. Beginning to climb out, the angel had only just begun to fly when she caught sight of the two cat demons flying away. The kitties soared in the sky, apparently not seeing Grora below them, especially since they already covered quite an impressive distance. Although the angel could barely see them, she could at least make out the two forms sailing through the sky in the moonlight shining down over them. And the direction they've been going in…was south, the same direction where the cave was located—the same place where they discovered those sun angels and that underground city the lich demon and Soa were in.

"Dammit, where the hell do those two think they're going?!" Grora shouted aloud, furious they were heading in that direction. They most likely were heading to that cave, dubbed the Burial Light in honor of the fallen sun angels who died in the buried metropolis. The name was the Devil's idea since he didn't want their deaths to be in vain for both the Sun Heaven and the Gray Garden, and there wasn't any opposition to the name at all. Whipping out her cellphone, Grora took flight, pursuing the girls while searching the list of contacts on her phone. Finding Kcalb's number, Grora pressed a button to dial it and held the cellphone up to her ear. "Come on, pick up…" she said and got impatient, wondering if Kcalb had actually turned in by now. Hopefully he wasn't sleeping.

"This is Kcalb speaking," the Devil answered, picking up on the other end of the line when he got to the phone. Thankfully he hadn't gone to bed yet. "May I inquire who's speaking, please?"

"It's Grora!" We've got a major problem on our hands, Sir Devil!"

"What sort of problem? Should I inform Eti? She should still be down at a late night game of gin rummy," Kcalb commented, guessing it was a major issue from the sound of Grora's voice.

"You'd better inform her right away! The lich demon's back!" the angel informed him.

"So, she's returned…" he replied, pondering what to do about the situation while inquiring how the angelic lady got that information. "How do you know she's shown up again, Grora?"

"Robin told me," Grora responded, then gave further elaboration to explain the concept as it could've been kind of hard to believe the account. "Well, her spirit did anyway in a dream I had, but that's beside the point. Point is: she sensed the lich demon's presence by Arbus, and now both cat demons are already on their way south, most likely towards Burial Light where that city is."

"I understand, where you now, Grora?"

"Already in pursuit of those bitches. I'm guessing Arbus made a deal with the lich demon."

"Is that so?" the Devil asked rhetorically. He thought Arbus might've gone that far for the sake of her twin sister, especially when Ater's suicide attempt was taken into account. That issue's severity and the implications of it were difficult to handle, so Kcalb believed Arbus only made the deal to try and make Ater happy. To him, it was the only logical explanation after everything which happened previously, prior to the supposed deal between Arbus and the lich demon. "Tell me, are you armed, Grora? Do you have anything to protect yourself and the girls if you catch up?"

"I've got my weapons, yeah, and I plan on dragging their asses back to the castle."

"If that is the safest course of action, do so right away at once," Kcalb instructed her, taking a passive approach to the situation and becoming more lenient with it. "However, I believe I know the motivation why Arbus probably made a deal with her anyway, and I'm sure you know it too."

Grora frowned, aware of exactly what he meant: their parents. Ater made the first deal with the lich demon to learn about her parents. She fulfilled it, but Arbus broke it, contributing to Ater's state of angry depression for the past several days. Maybe Arbus wanted to make amends to correct what she did when breaking the deal. This time she must've reformed it. "Well, what do you want me to do about it? You already know I completely distrust those two. Soa caused the Doppelganger Murders, we can't trust them because of that and the possible involvement with the ghouls based on that weird deity thing. I hope you're not suggesting what I think you are saying, Sir Devil."

"As a matter of fact, I am," the Devil commented from his end, dashing that hope to a deep pit where it might not have ever recovered. "If Arbus truly wants to make Ater happy and apologize for the fight between them, I believe this is the only means of reconciling their problems together. However, I am still also advising you to be cautious in approaching the problem which is why I'm requesting that you guard them if they don't have their weapons or armor. If the situation starts to get out of hand, take them away as best you can. I'll get Eti and one of us shall follow you soon."

"While the other remains behind to protect Gray Village," Grora finished for him and then sighed in frustration. "Fine, whatever, I'll protect them. Just make sure you arrive in time."

…

 **The revelation is soon at hand. Grora, Ater, and Arbus shall soon discover how all of them are connected (even if you, the readers, can already tell what the connection is; still I'd like to request again that you refrain from spoiling anything for others who might read this). I had originally planned on making this chapter much longer, but then decided to split it up into two separate chapters, the next one dealing with the revelation. The reason why was due to the fact I was nearing twenty pages in the word document and figured it'd be a better idea to cover the content in two chapters rather than a massive chapter at once. Thankfully I have completed a good portion of what's going to be in the next chapter already, so I only need to continue working on it. Depending on when it's finished, it may come sooner than later.**

 **I've also addressed something that might've come across as an inconsistency that may be apparent in** _Seven Nights at Clarabella's_ **. In that story, I've stated that Grora was actually Robin's superior in status and rank, but then Grora referred to Robin as a captain later on. This may have meant that Grora might've actually been of a lower status, so I thought about a way to address that matter. Here's how it works in this chapter: Grora's Robin's superior from a technical standpoint, though we must recall that Grora also felt guilty about the death of Robin. This is mentioned in the chapter along with the other reason being Robin's abilities which Grora acknowledges as superior to her own skills. Although she'd still be her superior, Grora respects Robin enough to know it should've been the other way around: that Robin's skills should've made her the superior officer, not Grora. She only advanced via connections from members of a social circle that may have been close to Etihw and was probably part of an upper class, whereas Robin put in the effort to rightfully earn those promotions. This way I can still maintain the notion of Grora being the superior in status and rank despite knowing Robin would've made a better superior officer than her because of the latter's abilities. This may seem like a copout, but I think it works well considering the friendship these two share as it shows how close Grora and Robin are despite not interacting all that much in the past.**


	22. Chapter Twenty-Two: A Deal Fulfilled

Hanging up on the Devil, the angelic lady huffed in annoyance since she realized what this implied. For the second time in her life—the first time being prior cooperation with Arbus—Grora found herself forced to work alongside the cat demons she despised with an intense passion. She hated the outcome of the conversation with Kcalb, though nevertheless trudged on with the duty because she was a loyal soldier. Had the circumstances been different, Grora would've rather taken the opportunity to beat them senseless as payback for Ater taking her eye decades ago. Though the incident in question in which she lost it was technically a century—technically a hundred and one years by now—it felt like decades to Grora. In her mind, decades were longer than centuries since there were more of them even though ten decades would've been one century. Not caring for those mathematics involved in the transition, she preferred decades because it sounded like more than a single timeframe had passed since her left eye was gouged whether accidently or purposely. Grora didn't care if it was an accident; it was still their fault for sneaking out of the daycare center to end up in the barracks and then the armory on purpose. That was their fault, and she'd make them pay.

Following the girls along the way to Burial Light, the angel pondered if it was worth getting away with murdering the cat demons at this point. She could lie about it later if she wanted to; then again, she could also simply tell the truth and accept whatever punishment she received. Her mind was reviving her thoughts about them, how they were nothing but little shits who always got what they wanted. In spite of how sorry she may have felt for them, the angel's anger rose slowly as the emotion bubbled near the surface. Ater and Arbus were going against their world by making a deal with the lich demon again, and it infuriated Grora because others like the Devil would've let them go about their treasonous business in light of the precautions and cautionary advice. The girls were just pursuing a lead that might not have been true, and even if it was it would've probably been an intricately mournful or morbid revelation. They didn't take into account the fact they were possibly being used, that they were utilized as tools, gullible victims who would've fallen for anything that could've gotten them what they sought, but didn't because the source was untrustworthy by lying.

Within a short while she saw the felines touch down outside the cave. Arbus walked in and continued to carry Ater from what Grora was seeing. The angel grimaced, speeding up to catch up and land as well. Unsheathing her scimitars, she cautiously entered the cave and began sneaking a short distance behind Arbus and Ater, waiting to see where the girls would go. Of course, she was aware of the fact this was the only way towards that clearing—apart from a concealed hole not too far away from the cavern's entrance. The cat demons had nowhere else to go since this was a linear path with some twists and turns. As she followed them, Grora wondered why guards weren't found outside the cave, thinking they must've been called back at some point. She disliked that idea due to the fact that lich demon and Soa were in here with whatever thing leading them and the massive horde of undead. Even so, she could not deny those guards would've been the first to be in danger if that threat emerged and attacked them, so perhaps they were called back for their own safety. It made sense, though they were the only force keeping other monsters from establishing nests here.

Speaking of which, Grora began to believe one such nest was founded here sometime after the guards left. She could catch whiffs of a foul odor radiating off the walls, holding her breath as she recognized the stench. Trolls with a combination of colo colos and likely a basilisk. "Damn…" she swore under her breath. "Those girls are walking right into a bloody den of monsters." Surely enough, they were as Grora could hear a cry from up ahead. Sighing in exasperated frustration due to her irritation towards Ater and Arbus for not thinking about a stealthy approach like her, Grora's combat instincts kicked in as she rushed into the fray. Approaching their position, she found Arbus had already set Ater down as gently as she could be before removing a small marble from a pocket in her shirt. The small object grew in size as it then materialized as the girl's trident which she had begun to make use of against several trolls and colo colos which began to advance on the girls.

"S-stay back!" she shouted at them aggressively, holding her trident and taking a defensive stance in the battle. Arbus shivered, shudders traveling down her spine as she was worried because her twin sister was in no position to fight. It was up to her to protect Ater. "Leave my sister alone!"

"Oh, just shut the hell up and keep out of my way!" Grora retorted even though Arbus was not addressing her. Surprising the black haired feline by rushing past her, the angel twirled the two scimitars around and quickly struck down two trolls. Leaping back, grateful she wasn't wearing a suit of light or heavy armor that would've slowed down her mobility, she avoided a colo colo that attempted to pounce on her prior to receiving a critical slash down its head. Ducking to dodge one slow swipe from a troll, Grora thrust both blades into its chest to slaughter the creature, using this improvised shield to protect herself against another troll. Kicking the dead troll after pulling them out, she let it collide into the other troll to bowl over a few more trolls that all fell on top of several colo colos. Although magic wasn't Grora's specialty, she knew a basic fire spell that could set the monsters ablaze and immediately spoke the incantation for it to activate. Letting the spell flow into her right arm, she put the scimitar into her mouth and held the hilt that way while holding her arm out to cast the fire spell. It erupted from thin air, the magic propelling the energy that heated up in the surrounding space by her hand to strike the pile of creatures and burn them all. Their agonized screeches and cries produced noise as the final two colo colos launched themselves towards Grora.

"M-miss Grora!" Arbus cried, warning the angel of the threat she was already aware of and readying her trident to help out in case Grora needed aid. Yet the lady merely slashed at one of the remaining foes and stepped aside to let the other miss so the black haired cat demon could stab its face with her trident. Only a single troll remained, but it chose to flee after its allies all died. It had begun to cry out in fear, retreating because it knew the battle was over and no longer in their favor.

"That's right, run away!" Grora shouted at it as the troll withdrew timidly, somewhat happy for the chance to blow off steam by massacring a huge party of monsters. "Don't let me catch you again, because I will stuck my blades so far down your throat and up your ass that you'll wish you never encountered me!" She released a breath of air she'd held, wincing due to the foul stench still infecting the air in here. Continuing to catch her breath, the angel then turned to the cat demons and stormed over to Arbus while the black haired twin was walking over to Ater.

"Thank you, Miss Grora—h-hey!" she began to thank her, but was interrupted when Grora seized her shoulders and shoved the cat demon up against one of the tunnel's walls for interrogation to get some answers. Arbus didn't seem to realize that yet. "I said 'thank you', you could be a—"

"Can it, you little shit!" Grora barked harshly, shouting right in her face. "Explain yourself, Arbus! Why the hell are you coming back here of all places?! What did you speak about with that damn lich demon?! I want answers, and you'd better give them to me, or else I'm taking you back!"

"N-no, let go, I'm not going back to the castle, not yet!" Arbus protested, trying to free her shoulders from Grora's grip and eventually succeeded. Returning to her sister's sickly form, she'd begun to feel relieved that Ater had begun to eat the sandwiches. Thankfully her twin regained that much of her strength back, and Arbus hoped the few sandwiches she packed were enough. Though she did forget the drinks, it was enough for the moment, and she also hoped fresh water was ahead. "I can't, not now. I need to go through with this. We need to hear this," she alluded to the deal that Arbus remade with the lich demon, confirming the angel's suspicions—and Kcalb's—about it. He would've allowed them to go on with this if he was here and would've helped keep them safe.

"So you did make the deal," Grora concluded, the deduction having been proved correct as she took Arbus by the collar and lifted her up. "Same deal, eh?" Her pigtails swayed behind her in the air, a cavernous breeze brushing past her. It sent chills down her spine, though she wasn't even scared because that was just a natural reaction to the cause. Thankfully it wasn't poisonous, so she was glad a basilisk wasn't around even if it was deeper in the cave. "Mind explaining why here?"

"Because I was told to bring Ater here with me!" the cat demon retorted. "Why are—"

"You idiotic dolt!" the angelic woman shouted angrily, beginning to reprimand her for the mistake she made. "She told you to take Ater with you when you returned to this damn place, and you fell for it?!" Grora huffed, grunting loudly in sheer annoyance at how stupid they were. Letting go of Arbus she stepped away while the black haired feline gently picked her twin up to carry her piggyback style. "How ignorant can you stupid shits be?! You could've walked right into a trap!"

"I had to try—"

"Try to throw your lives away?! You dumb shits walked right into a monster den and took no precautions!" the angel carried on in her verbal admonishment of the cat demons. Usually Ater received the brunt of her rage, though this time Arbus became the focal point instead of her sister.

"I had my weapon with me!" Arbus tried to protest.

"You had _a_ weapon with you! Does Ater have hers?! Is she capable of defending herself?!"

The black haired kitty turned her head to look back at Ater's weakened state. "N-no…"

"So, even were she able to protect her own sorry ass, weapon or no weapon, you still went ahead with this putrid deal of yours anyway!" Grora declared, accusing Arbus of doing something wrong. The angel was not wrong since the cat demon understood she put Ater's life at risk, though Arbus knew she needed to fulfill her end of the bargain for Ater's sake. She needed to, after all.

"Y-yes," she murmured somberly, looking down at the ground in shame. "I have to…Look at her, Miss Grora. She's lost her will to live. I…we took that away from her…"

"I didn't take shit!" came the angel's very insensitive reply to the notion.

"You contributed to it!" Arbus shouted back at Grora's lack of responsibility for that before looking down in shame again. "We all did…and now Ater's like this because of us."

"You two started it!" Grora childishly refused to accept the blame for her part in the affair.

"And I'm going to end it," the black haired cat demon declared with such strong resolve to proceed further with the deal. Walking forward towards the clearing where the sun angels used to be encamped during the threat of Siralos' invasion, she brushed past Grora and kept her eyes ahead of her. "I'll end this by making amends for what I've done. I had no right to break the earlier deal. Sure, Ater may have betrayed us, but in the end she was the one who put in the effort. I didn't, but now I am seeking redemption for the sin I have caused which tore us apart in the first place."

"And this is all for the sake of your own atonement?" the angel asked, calming down now.

"Yes," Arbus murmured aloud, striding ahead in the endeavor. "I must atone for what I've done, Miss Grora. I don't care if you try to stop me, I will continue to go through with this anyway."

Grora sighed and facepalmed. She was still irritated at how they weren't taking any dangers into consideration, though realized it was no use arguing. Arbus did have a right to atone for what she did, and this may have been the only way to do it. Although she wasn't happy about it, Grora's order was to keep these girls safe and protect them as Arbus brought Ater where they had to go. It was probably a trap, but it appeared they had no choice but to spring it anyway. "Fine," Grora said begrudgingly, storming past them and getting right in Arbus' face, noticing how silent and crippled Ater was. The poor girl was hardly in good condition for this spelunking expedition, though Grora figured it couldn't be helped. "But look, if you're actually going to plod on ahead to keep your end of that damned deal, you'd better listen up. Sir Devil instructed me to guard you both on your way, and you two better not make this difficult for me by getting in my way," she explained curtly with a sour tone of voice. "Considering how you were close to screwing up, I suggest you hold back to let me handle the threats. You both want to get out of here alive with the knowledge you seek, you do exactly as I tell you to, understand?" Her demand didn't garner a response from Ater, but Arbus accepted the fact with a nod to show she could comprehend it, agreeing to let Grora take command.

"Certainly, as you wish."

"Good, now smell the air in here," Grora instructed the black haired cat demon as Ater was only capable of simply blinking, feeling too weak to really speak. Arbus followed the order, closing her eyes and sniffing the air to discern anything important, something that could be necessary.

"What should I be aware of, Miss Grora?"

"You can smell the trolls and colo colos, right?" Grora asked as Arbus nodded in response. "You catch a whiff of that third scent? Basilisk," she then rhetorically asked before giving away a clear answer to describe the nature of this threat. "You've learned of them before haven't you?"

"A little," Arbus admitted in her answer.

"Then FYI, you should know by now that basilisks are perfectly capable of killing you via their poisonous breath, fangs, and a slam of its tail. They may not petrify you into stone with their icy, cold stares, but they're certainly large enough to crush an entire house." Nearly done with her brief lecture, Grora pulled her arms through the sleeves of her dress one at a time and cut them off with her scimitars. Using one blade, she cut a sleeve in half and handed the pieces to Arbus, making sure to hold the other one for herself. "Here, use this to cover your mouths against the poison."

"So what'll happen if we face it?" Arbus inquired somewhat nervously. She was concerned about Ater's safety, but she was also worried about how the angel would handle the threat of a big, dangerous enemy such as a basilisk. "You're not going to face it alone, right, Miss Grora?"

"Just shut up and stay the hell out of my way," Grora retorted, putting her arms in the holes where her sleeves once were. Wrapping the remaining sleeve she had around her mouth, the angel checked her pockets for anything she could use to keep her nostrils shut. Luckily she had a useful pack of tissues and took one out, ripping the tissue in half and balling the pieces up. "Damn straight I'm taking the damn thing head on by myself. Do you see anybody else here at the moment?" Her question was sarcastic, yet it was also rhetorical even though Arbus shook her head and attempted to answer it when Grora cut her off. "Of course not, it's just you two bitches and I, and you're not useful because of her." She pointed to Ater's weakened form, the white haired kitty's arms draping over her twin sister's shoulders. "I'm going to have to pull the weight of all three of us; that sucks."

"I could help," Arbus offered politely, but Grora scoffed at her aid.

"Bah, as if you could even fight one off alone. I faced at least four basilisks in my lifetime, _four_." The angel held up the corresponding fingers on her hand to emphasize the total number. "It wasn't that difficult in a group because everyone was well-prepared and in pristine condition. Your sister isn't, thus you need to be her bodyguard on this bloody jaunt of yours. It also means you are useless baggage I have to carry around, and I'll be damned if you drop your damn luggage to help me. You want the two of you to get out of here safely? Then keep your damn distance, let me take care of myself, and we can all traipse down to that bloody city again." She sighed in frustration to release some air and inhale more. It wasn't fresh, but at least she knew it wasn't venomous. Grora was very irritated with the girls for coming here unprepared. One did not simply walk into a place like this expecting no resistance. The cat demons did that, showing up with only one capable fighter amongst them—Arbus—and a single weapon that fighter could wield. Grora had three on her: two scimitars and her bow and arrow set which included a total of fifty silver arrows in the quiver. She might not have been wearing armor which lowered her defenses and left her vulnerable, but at the very least she was still agile and nimbly mobile. Although she was an archer who also specialized in duel wielding, Grora was more than capable for handling a threat as significant as a basilisk. As useful as the two retiarius cat demons may have been, they only specialized in skills with tridents.

"So, you're facing it one on one?!" Arbus asked in surprise, following Grora as she escorted her and Ater through the tunnel and down its many twists and turns towards the clearing.

"Yep, and I sure as hell am not letting you enter the fray. You'll only slow me down. Find some place to hide and stay back, otherwise we'll all die, got it?" Grora gave Arbus an ultimatum, turning her head to glare back at the black haired cat demon to make her take it. A simple nod was all the archer needed from the retiarius to ensure she would listen and heed her commands. As the two of them trudged onwards, Ater still clinging to Arbus in the piggyback position while her twin sister held onto her, Grora suddenly turned around and held her hand out. Arbus blinked, confused as to why they stopped when she realized what the reason was. Apparently Grora realized the two of them would also need to block out the poison so it wouldn't enter their nostrils, so the angel had stepped up to her and shoved the tissue pieces into the feline's nose to cover the nostrils. Removing another tissue, she did the same thing with Ater before preparing a third for herself. "If you got to breath, do it through your mouths. Hold those sleeves up to them to keep the poison out. My dress isn't enchanted, so you'd better press them to your mouths real tight if you don't want to inhale it. Understand?" Arbus nodded silently, testing how much pressure she'd have to apply. "Good," the angelic woman replied, looking down at her sleeveless arms which were bare and very exposed to danger—of course, she already was without any armor; though her arms had less protection as the air was chilly and she had to cross her arms to keep them warm. "Oh, and I'm billing you two girls for a new dress, just so you know, as this will be coming directly out of your own paycheck."

"Fine," Arbus agreed without the reluctance which would've been present. The only reason why she even bothered to concede to that arrangement was because it didn't matter to her. Another dress for the angel if the sleeves couldn't be sown together back on her current dress was a petty trifle, one she didn't mind paying for even if Grora ruined it. "Let's go, we need to get Ater there right away so both of us can learn about our parents. By the way, Soa's going to pick us up."

"Tch, whatever," Grora begrudgingly concurred, turning back to the path with both pieces of the tissue she tore in half for herself in one hand. Her arms might've been crossed, though she'd been ready to draw her scimitars again once and if they encountered the basilisk. The mighty thing was probably somewhere deeper in Burial Light, probably in the clearing itself, hence why stealth was crucial. "Quiet…" she whispered to them as they were approaching the clearing, hearing that giant serpent nearby. "It's here…find somewhere to hide while I deal with this bloody monster."

"Okay…" Arbus murmured and quickly withdrew towards a huge stone jutting from within the ground as Grora entered the center of the clearing. Setting Ater down tenderly, the black haired feline sat beside her white haired twin and held her close with the torn pieces of Grora's sleeve in her hands. She had also materialized her trident again, keeping the weapon close in case she needed to defend her sister from harm. They were well hidden, though Arbus ensured she could also make out Grora's presence. Observing the angel shove the tissue pieces into her nostrils, she watched as Grora uncrossed her arms to draw her bow and nock three arrows on the string, ready to shoot.

Hearing the sound of slithering from deeper within the clearing, the angel scowled grimly. Her eye narrowed in cold determination, not blinking as the basilisk emerged from a tunnel down at the far end of the clearing—the very same tunnel she and Arbus traveled through when chasing Ater during the threat of Siralos' invasion. Maybe this thing had become a guardian of that buried city if it wasn't too feral. In that case, the beast probably wouldn't be too aggressive. Slithering its massively long body forward, its cockatrice head growled ferociously at the sight of an intruder in its territory. The thing was gray all over with the head being a mixture of red and black, plus there was something sticking out of its mouth: the troll that fled from Grora and the cat demons earlier. Tossing this interrupted meal aside, the basilisk glared at Grora while sniffing for other intruders.

"Don't bother yourself with those little shits!" Grora shouted, shooting her arrows, aiming for the creature's eyes and forehead. Her remark was an allusion to the cat demons, though it may have also referenced the basilisk's other prey as well. Her preemptive strike was a success because she managed to gouge out its eyes and deliver a good scratch to its head even if the arrow still fell from being deflected. She was very grateful the basilisk hadn't evolved into a full cockatrice since it would've been more dangerous then. The beast would perfectly capable of actually killing those it encountered with but a single glance at that point, though luckily it wasn't fully grown yet. "I'm your opponent!" the angel added, dodging a violent slam from the tail as it rose up to attack her.

Leaping out of the way and flying out of range when the tail swept across the ground, Grora knew the basilisk could still sense her presence by smelling and hearing her movements. It reared its head back, unleashing a cloud of venomous fumes that erupted from it like magma or fire being spewed out of a similar draconic creature. Even the way projectile spells were thrown at opponents was another analogy that could describe the motion. Fortunately, the angel was prepared for it and prevented the noxious fumes from spreading any closer with a powerful gust of wind blown when she violently flapped her wings. The poisonous gases blew over the basilisk, immune to its poison, enabling it to use them as cover for a poorly executed sneak attack Grora was ready to counter by simply flying out of the way. Its head smashed into the ceiling while she delivered several slashes to its elongated torso to deal additional damage with her scimitars once she sheathed her bow and drew them instead. Cracks appeared in the ceiling above the two combatants, extending somewhat near the cat demons as Arbus quickly searched for a safe alcove she and Ater could take refuge in.

Angered over the failure of its attacks and the wounds its opponent dealt, the basilisk roared and hissed furiously. Rocks and all sorts of stalactites were beginning to sever from the ceiling and fall while it turned to lunge at Grora once more. She was prepared for this attack, evading it in the flight away from collapsing debris that nearly crushed her too. Using a boulder that fell for cover, the angelic archer looked up to examine the structure and planned out a critical advantage she had to seize in order to acquire the upper hand in this fight. With several stalactites collapsing because of the basilisk's attack, she opted to risk pinning its body under one or two and hope they'd be able to hold this beast in place so it wouldn't move around as much. Shooting its head past the boulder, her monstrous opponent immediately turned around and attempted to bite down hard on her. While it wouldn't have been successful since Grora dodged the attack, the basilisk also smashed its own head with its tail in the hope of also crushing or knocking her into its mouth if she flew up. Again, she enraged it by anticipating the attacks, yet she once again found herself cornered between a big rock and its mouth once it recovered. Shooting her prey with a flurry of arrows, her wings flapped backwards when the basilisk tried the same attack again, this time with more poisonous fumes.

"Tch!" Grora grunted and blew the gases back it while taking off in flight, sweating because she was beginning to feel exhausted after all the exercise she received. Running after Arbus in the castle, flying after her and Ater in the air, and the excursion in Burial Light with the previous fight were all wearing her down. She expended physical energy, growing tired from constantly making use of her wings to fly and arms for attacking with the bow and arrows along with the blades. Her muscles were feeling slightly sore, and Grora knew she needed to end this battle right away which was why she put her strategy into action at that moment. Flying towards the ceiling and positioning herself in a spot she estimated would make a few stalactites break and fall on the basilisk to inhibit its mobility while severely damaging it at the same time, the archer sheathed her blades and nocked a few arrows on the string of her bow when she drew it. She shot at it to get its attention once this filthy beast recovered from the second blow it dealt upon its own head—those two hits helped too as they dealt blunt force trauma to the cranial region—and dodged more poison and its fangs.

Her gamble was successful, for she had managed to make parts of the ceiling collapse once more. Two of the stalactites from the debris fell on top of the basilisk. One pierced its tail, keeping the creature from using it to attack. The other was thrust by gravitational force into the middle part of its torso, thus continuing to restrict the basilisk's mobility. All it had left to rely on were noxious fumes and its fangs, the latter of which could simply be avoided by staying out of its range, leaving only those poisonous gases it spewed from its mouth. Grora smiled, weaving her way through the falling debris towards a safe spot where she could pelt this creature with arrows from a safe place, just a good distance away. "Ha, you stupid serpent!" she taunted, getting in between it and the cat demons while keeping her bow and arrows ready with her wings outstretched to blow the toxic gas back while also applying windy force to the arrows as a means of increasing their propulsion. "I've got you exactly where I want ya: the other end of a raging hailstorm!" She grinned wider, waiting for the basilisk to breathe another cloud of toxic breath so she could blow it back with only a single arrow mixed it. This beast may have been immune to its own breath as it would not penetrate its skin, but the powerful gust of wind generated from a strong flap of Grora's wings was well timed. Her arrow soared faster than the others she propelled, acquiring a powerful coat of poison through the misty gas prior to immediately being embedded in the basilisk's forehead where the brain was.

Her foe screeched in pain, uttering large gasps as it tried to breathe amid other arrows that were shot and propelled forward by another gust of wind into the area where its lungs were located. In moments the thing was dead because its heart was also struck. Watching its upper body fall on the ground, Grora merely smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. Coming out of their hiding spot, the black haired cat demon carried Ater over and observed the spectacle before them while the angelic lady threw her head back and laughed loudly, purposely falling back to lay on the cavernous floor. "Wow, first time I ever slew a basilisk single-handedly!" she exclaimed, happy over this personal achievement. Usually she needed the help of others when dealing with such creatures, though this time she successfully managed to do what a party of around five to six individuals did by herself.

"Congratulations, Miss Grora," Arbus complimented her, gazing at the dead basilisk. Even though she desperately needed to get Ater to that buried city's monastery, the feline realized Grora needed a breather after such an intense fight. "You were so awesome and impressively cool!"

"Thanks!" Grora continued to laugh, taking a deep breath before standing up. For once she actually appreciated it because the kitty was acknowledging how strong and skilled she was. With that said and done, there was just one more thing she needed to do before they left. "Alright, I have taken of this bloody thing so we can move on. Just give me a minute or so to cut off some scales." Going over to the fallen basilisk, the angel unsheathed one of her scimitars and reached out to cut several scales from its body as a souvenir, her reward for killing this thing on her own without aid. However, just as she nearly touched the tip of the blade to the scales, that part of the cadaver began to swell and writhe all of a sudden as if something was inside it. "The hell?!" Grora shouted as she leapt back and drew the other scimitar while Arbus got behind her for protection. "I just killed it!"

Observing as that particular part continued to bulge out slightly and move eerily, the angel kept her blades at the ready in case this unexpected surprise was malevolent when it emerged. And when it did, the of them all looked in wonder at the head of pink hair with bat wings in it, followed by the familiar black eyes with red in them which greeted the trio. _"Hello!"_ Soa greeted them.

Arbus merely stared at Raspbel's doppelganger in shocked confusion, wondering why Soa had been inside the basilisk. She blinked once, her reaction being completely different to what her angelic companion thought when Grora first saw the shit-eating grin of a deadly foe—maybe Soa had been eating shit in the literal sense; or just the flesh, organs, and blood of some poor individual. The archer immediately got in front of the cat demons to reluctantly keep them safe, pointing both scimitars at the doppelganger. In light of Arbus' earlier mention of Soa coming to collect them, an impasse appeared unavoidable. "You!" Grora shouted angrily at her. "The hell are you doing?!"

 _"My job, what else?"_ Soa laughed, her tendrils ripping through the spot she poked her head from so she could use them to heave herself out. _"Thanks for the offering, but I should be the one asking you, Grora."_ She smirked, sitting atop the dead monster while leaning her back against the head which happened to have curled up in on the main body. Licking her lips prior to maneuvering her tongue over to her fingers, hands, and tendrils to lick the blood and internal basilisk body parts off, the sadistic doppelganger directed an inquiry at her. _"What are you doing here, Grora? You've got some nerve showing up to a deal you're not part of. Trying to interrupt this one now, too?"_

"For your information, I was ordered to guard them and drag their asses back if these girls were in serious danger from you!" Grora retorted, trying to shove Arbus away with Ater while she kept an eye on the cannibalistic doppelganger in case Soa chose to attack then. "And I think you've just given me cause for that concern!" Gesturing towards the dead basilisk, Soa looked down at it. Raspbel's doppelganger blinked, initially confused as to why she was receiving credit—the blame, actually—for something she allegedly did, the keyword being 'allegedly'. "This was your idea!"

 _"Oh, the basilisk?"_ Soa asked rhetorically, shaking her head to deny the allegation. _"I had noth—"_ Her response went unfinished for a bit as she suddenly shrieked when the creature's head shifted once she sat against it again. Soa lost her balance on the monster and fell backwards off it, landing on the ground and getting up again while swearing and roaring at it in rage. Her tendrils tore into the corpse with her covered in its blood once she finished ripping it apart as petty revenge. Flicking locks of her pink hair out of her eyes, Soa licked her tendrils to continue addressing the accusation. _"Anyway, bottom line is that I didn't have anything to do with this. I only just opened up the portal for quicker access with this offering for Master directly above it—as in covering the portal. Don't believe me?"_ Using her tendrils, Soa pushed the cadaver away to reveal a portal beneath it. _"Here, I had to dig into it to get out,"_ she said before starting to laugh cheerfully.

While she may have thought that food-related pun was funny since the doppelganger who'd become completely covered in blood started giggling about it, Grora didn't believe it was hilarious. "That damn thing would've killed them if I wasn't here!" She stopped herself from adding Soa as another savior for a few reasons. One, this still might've been a plan she and the lich demon thought of; two, she had arrived too late to even help at all; three, Soa was to blame for the murders months ago; and four—the most important reason summing the others up in three words—Soa was Soa. It was only natural for her to suspect Raspbel's doppelganger of this attack. "How the hell do I know you aren't its damn owner?! That you did or did not tame a bloody basilisk, trolls, and cola colas?!"

 _"Oh, you slew the other offerings for Master? Great!"_ Soa smiled happily, hands clapping as she hopped up and down multiple times excitedly. _"Saves me the work of killing those rascals!"_

"And having fun doing it?" Grora asked.

 _"Yes, I—"_ the doppelganger answered, then her eyes jolted open when she realized an error in acknowledging that. By admitting her fun was stolen by Grora, she was probably thanking Grora for having the fun Soa was supposed to have. _"Hey, you tricked me!"_ she cried, upset over the loss of fun. The fact Grora merely smirked at her own snide remark made Soa mad. _"Big meanie!"_ The childish doppelganger stuck her tongue out at her, inwardly getting furious that she wasn't allowed to harm or kill them because she slaughtered a lot of this world's people and drove Raspbel insane.

"You admitted it," Grora continued the witty banter with the upper hand in the petty debate. Soa may have been Raspbel's doppelganger, a nearly perfect copy of her in Raspbel's pure image with the eyes being the only exception. However, her behavior couldn't hold a candle to the pristine attitude and elegance of Raspbel herself. Soa truly was nothing more than a total, childish brat. An insane, sadistically, psychotic mind and personality was thrown in with cannibalism to boot which helped cement the portrayal of a demon with poor etiquette and grace, a killing spree, and insanity.

 _"You started it!"_

"I didn't start shit! Your damn offering nearly killed us!"

 _"Well, it didn't because you killed it instead! You shouldn't even be here, Grora!"_

"Fine, then," Grora replied and sheathed one scimitar, using her now free hand to usher the cat demons away, much to Arbus' dismay because the angel was keeping them from their parents. "You don't want us here murdering your offerings to whatever the hell your master is? Very well, we've wasted my time here long enough." Grabbing hold of the black haired feline's arm, she had begun to forcefully lead her away. "Let's go, girls, they won't fulfill your damn deal with them."

Yet Arbus protested against leaving. "H-hey, wait! N-no, we can't leave! We have to learn about our parents, Miss Grora!" Struggling in the angel's grasp, she eventually freed herself to run back towards Soa. "P-please, just give them a chance! We need them, Ater needs them!"

"She said we weren't supposed to be here!" Grora retorted, trying to reason with them.

 _"Correction: I said YOU weren't supposed to be here, Grora,"_ the doppelganger clarified for the archer, grinning mischievously while walking up to the kitties. _"See this? Commitment."_ As she retracted her tendrils into her hair, Soa raised her arm up to rest the elbow against Arbus' shoulder. Unfortunately, the black haired feline stepped back and which made Soa lose her balance again and fall. The comical matter had no effect on Grora that time, but she still responded to it.

"Yeah, commitment indeed," she commented sarcastically at the bratty doppelganger.

 _"Shut up!"_ Soa barked at her childishly, getting up and turning to the felines. _"And you're supposed to support me!"_ she hissed at them before leading them to the portal with Grora in tow.

"I don't give a damn if you say I'm not allowed here," the angelic lady barked back at her. "I'm still guarding them, and I will take them away if you show any hostility towards us all."

 _"Tch, whatever,"_ Soa replied, increasing the portal's size. _"Only with their permission."_

"What, I gotta say 'please, can we go now'?" Grora inquired sarcastically and figured she'd play the pronoun game with their foe if Soa referred to two other individuals aside from the kitties. "Who the hell are you talking about: these little shits, or the lich demon and your damn worm?"

 _"MASTER IS NOT A WORM!"_ Soa suddenly raised her voice that began to crackle in rage, distorting itself even amidst the coherent speech. There was a mark on her left hand which started to glow, a printed image in the form of a long creature with six appendages. Dark power was now radiating from her body as her blackened eyes with the red circles and red dots as pupils gradually shined a dark purplish hue. Obviously the angel's insult infuriated her, and Soa turned towards the lady to rebuke Grora for having shown such disrespect towards the being she severed with intense loyalty. _"HOW DARE YOU REFER TO OUR GLORIOUS MASTER AS A PETTY MICROBE! HE IS FAR SUPERIOR TO ALL DEITIES AND DEVILS COMBINED! OUR MASTER'S STRENGTH AND POWER IS OF A SCOPE BEYOND WHAT YOU CAN POSSIBLY COMPREHEND! YOU'D FALL BEFORE HIM AS HE IS FAR MORE THAN CAPABLE OF OBLITERATING YOUR ASS!"_

"Oh, really, is that so?" Grora uttered in a sarcastic tone, not buying the account since she'd only believe it when it actually happened, thus proving their deity was stronger than her and every other individual in their world. Granted, Soa referred to Devils and deities, indicating her master's power was better than theirs. That much she'd give her because she knew Soa herself nearly killed Etihw in one hit, severely weakening the Goddess despite Etihw's recovery to full strength. In any case, she'd still have to be cautious even if her attitude right now wasn't covered by caution at all. "Then riddle me this: if your own deity is that strong, why hasn't it destroyed our world yet?"

Soa growled, her irritation with Grora's lack of misconduct and proper respect growing as she really wished her master allowed her to punish such offenses. Unfortunately, he forbade them from attacking this world. _"You're lucky we're neutral, bitch,"_ she snarled, turning away from the angel to finish enlarging the portal. _"Otherwise you'd be dead now. Besides, he likes this world."_ She would've argued further, though the Great Elder she worshipped fervently as her master would scold her again like when she killed residents of this world during the Doppelganger Murders.

"Bullshit you're neutral, you caused the Doppelganger Murders!" Grora retorted bitterly.

 _"And proud of it!"_ Soa proclaimed, grinning at the memory. _"Now shut up, I'm working!"_

Even though Grora figured there wasn't much use getting information out of Soa, the Gray Garden received plenty during the first incident Soa caused. It wasn't enough to comprehend what exactly that stuff meant and why. She thought about asking why her deity liked the Gray Garden, but opted not to. Soa's body language as indicated when she turned back to the portal with a huff, merely waving her left hand to the side to widen the opening, suggested she wouldn't say much more about this subject. She certainly wouldn't risk Soa's anger reaching a tipping point because the doppelganger might've actually killed them. She was supposed to protect Ater and Arbus, not bring about their downfall like this or in any other way that might've been conventional. That was why she remained silent, choosing to not ask anything else for their own protection. Provoking the enemy was not a good idea, and she clearly wanted to keep her life and the kitties' lives intact.

Still, there was one minor matter that had to be addressed. "Can I have my scales, now?"

Well, almost silent. Yet Soa fulfilled the request all the same. _"Knock yourself out."_ With a quick swipe at the basilisk's corpse by using a tendril she protracted from her hair, Soa cut some scales off and threw them behind her for Grora to catch. _"Your welcome; it's your kill, not mine."_

Grora nodded reluctantly. "Sure, thanks," she murmured begrudgingly. Having to converse like this with Soa was belittling to her, especially since the doppelganger was a major criminal.

 _"Don't mention it, it shouldn't be a recurring occurrence."_ Finished with the portal, more of her tendrils emerged to push the basilisk down first before she gestured for the others to follow her down. _"Right this way, cat ladies and dipshit, into our humble cathedral."_ Hopping into it, the doppelganger went first while Arbus, still holding onto Ater very carefully, swallowed heavily and prepared for the descent. Thankfully this must've been a quicker route to the underground city the three inhabitants from the Gray Garden were in during Ater's rescue, specifically the monastery's grounds. Despite feeling it was a trap, thus sharing the opinion Grora had, Arbus made the plunge. The cat demons disappeared into silently with Grora close behind them, and immediately all three found themselves within the cathedral itself. The windows were broken and the architecture clearly matched that of the building materials that must've been used to make the city. Stained glass, even though much of it was shattered, decorated the window frames and served as the windows too. An impressively magnificent chandelier hung from the ceiling, though it too was broken since several of the rods with spaces for gemstones were broken, though enough were left to light the place up.

Hearing the sound of shambling behind them, Grora and Arbus turned to find undead near where they stood, simply passing by on patrol while several others merely stood guard. There was dried blood on the floor, perhaps from the sun angels who all perished in this building. The undead with the smell of blood was creepy and gross, though neither girl said a word about it as they both looked back to the far end of this cathedral. On the other side stood the lich demon in front of one massive statue depicting a creature covered in tentacles with six appendages and a mouth at a spot where all six connected to the main body. "You've brought them…" she murmured, "but why have you included her?" Pointing to Grora, she continued addressing Soa. "She's not meant to be here."

 _"She's a persistent one, she is,"_ Soa replied and happily skipped over to her. _"I tried telling her off, but this sack of shit wouldn't budge."_ Grora secretly called the doppelganger an asshole in her mind, choosing not to voice that thought verbally since it could offend Soa and the lich demon even if it was to get back at the former for that insult and the previous one. _"I told her she can stay as long as she has permission from you and Master. Your verdicts shall determine if she stays."_

"Very well, you and I shall ask him together as his decision will decide this," the other one agreed, catching sight of the fallen basilisk behind the other girls and pointed to it. "You're offering that to him as a present?" It was a rhetorical question, though Soa nodded all the same. Sauntering closer to the doppelganger, the lich demon took a whiff of her. "You smell like it; after the two of us just finished taking a refreshing bloodbath together," she added to make Soa chuckle sheepishly.

 _"Yeah…oops, my bad. Sorry about that, big sis."_

"It is of no consequence, for our business with them comes first," her older sister declared and began to levitate in the air slightly, holding her forearms up with the elbows bent downwards. Her hands were out with the palms facing upwards, the fingers pointing outwards. If Grora and the cat demons—well, Ater was bordering on being slightly unconscious—knew any better, they could guess the lich demon was starting to meditate with Soa stepping beside her to emulate the posture. "But first let us inquire into the matter of the angel's attendance to determine if she's allowed."

Raspbel's doppelganger nodded in agreement while they shut their eyes. _"Yes, let's,"_ Soa replied with a smile, happily joining her as the two of them contacted their master, the Great Elder. Watching them perform this little ritual, Grora strode forward with Arbus as the black haired kitty found a spot to set Ater down. Exhausted from having carried her for a good while, she gently put her white haired twin on a stone pew that wasn't too comfortable. However, Arbus sat down on it and let Ater use her lap as a pillow, tenderly stroking her sister's face with the other's head propped up on her lap. The angel merely closed her eyes, crossing her arms as she examined the monolithic statue of this primordially eldritch creature and wondered what sort of being it was. Moments had become about a couple minutes, and it was at this point Soa and the lich demon exited their trance. _"Alright, you can stay,"_ Raspbel's doppelganger spoke up as their feet touched the floor again.

"Our Lord has blessed you with his permission," the lich demon concurred. "He only asks of you to remain observant as the deal progresses. You are not to interject at any time while it has begun and during the procedure. If you do, it shall fail and you will be removed from the premises."

"Y-you mean the deal's off if she interrupts?!" Arbus cried out in a sudden panic. The very thought of losing this opportunity again was devastating. Without it, she and Ater would not even be able to reconcile their respective perspectives and problems pertaining to their parents. She cast a desperate look at Grora, pleading with the angel for her to stay out of this affair even if she could only watch. "M-miss Grora, please give them a chance for Ater's sake! I don't want to lose her!"

"It shall be upheld even if she interrupts," the lich demon clarified for her and Ater, picking up a chalice made from ornate ebony and dipping it into a brazier full of some strange water which suddenly grew out of nowhere. "We would simply have to restart the process in that case."

Scowling in disapproval of the fact she was demoted to simply watching the interaction the cat demons would have with her, Grora growled as a sign of how mad she was. She also hated the fact Arbus requested she hold back for Ater because she and the white haired cat demon were still mortal enemies in her eye. Even so, she reluctantly crossed her arms and turned her head to glance away from them, shutting her eye and snobbishly sticking her nose in the air. "Whatever, I'll keep my trap shut if it'll make you so happy. Though be kind enough to explain what the hell that stuff is." Pointing to the water, the angel waited for a reply as the lich demon held it out to show her.

"Water from an underground spring full of valuable minerals, blessed by our Lord. It shall rejuvenate her to full health right away, if you'd care to watch," she explained, walking to Ater as she held the chalice out. Arbus held her twin's mouth open, thankful for the water her sister drank as the lich demon poured the contents into Ater's mouth. The water went down her throat, through Ater's esophagus as Grora and the black haired cat demon watched the process. Slowly, but surely, the white haired feline was actually regaining her normal color. Within less than a minute, she was already making a full recovery. The spectacle was amazing to Arbus—and surprisingly enough to Grora as well—for Ater was now all better and in pristine condition. Only a deity could heal people to that kind of full health, though they had no power over the psychologically mental health of the individuals who received such blessings. This water seemed to have an effect on that, for Ater had begun to feel mentally refreshed as well which was also fascinating in a way. "There, she's better."

Arbus grinned happily, her mouth hanging open. "Ater…!" she murmured, thankful for the aid this lich demon provided. She looked up at the lich demon. "Thank you, Miss…um…"

"Y-yes, t-thank you…" Ater also thanked her too, still adjusting to the effects of the water.

"You are both most certainly welcome, young ones," the lich demon replied, leading them to the center over the area in front of the statue while Arbus helped Ater there. "And it's Aleista…"

"Thank you, Miss Aleista…" the cat demons murmured again, grateful she helped them.

"Hey," Grora cut in, believing the ritual they were going to perform hadn't officially begun as of yet. "Are you sure that stuff's not poisonous or anything? And can you at least give us some kind of guarantee that you'll be telling them the truth or not?" Her concerns were legitimately valid because she still didn't trust Aleista and Soa, though the former attempted to put her at ease.

"But of course, the spring water is perfectly healthy even in its raw condition. That was the reason why our Lord selected it from amongst the deepest and purest of underground springs. His blessing upon it also served to protect this water from any foul odors and magic capable of ruining it otherwise. Even any tainted substances within it were wiped clean prior to the deal. As for your guarantee, you and the fellow inhabitants of your world have correctly assumed I am a lich. While I can indeed raise the dead and control them, our Lord and my religious customs ensure I can only do so with permission from those affiliated with whoever the deceased may be. That being said, it is also true pertaining to the memories of those who departed life. I cannot change them for I have no power over memories, thus being able only to present them in the only forms they take."

"You can bring our parents back to life?!" Ater exclaimed, surprised by the notion that also made her happy deep down since she'd finally get to have them in her life and Arbus' life too.

 _"Not exactly,"_ Soa began to explain for them. _"Once a life's been snuffed out, the soul can be carried onto an afterlife where it is determined whether the soul can stay or not. If so, the soul's finished its business in the living world and has fully repented for any sins it committed. If not, via the soul's personal choice or because its business and sins were left unfinished and tainted, a soul is free to be reincarnated as another individual. The physical shell you call a body is but a vessel, the soul's form in life. When one body dies, the soul leaves it to enter the afterlife so it can reenter a new body if reincarnated. The new body will be quite different from the old shell even if it bears some physical similarities in terms of appearance, but the old body is the original shell. That being said, it will eventually become incompatible with the soul once death kicks in, thus meaning a new body must be obtained, formed, or developed in order for reincarnation to be possible. The soul's an identity, so to speak; its first identity will be developed in the first shell, while subsequent shells shall continue to develop that identity and iron out whatever sins are left through karma."_

"Indeed, for the soul is a pure, metaphysical substance," Aleista continued the explanation. "It can only become one with an afterlife and join it once it has become purified of darkness."

"I take it that's a no, then, huh?" Grora inquired curiously, somehow impressed by the odd range of intellect Soa displayed just then. She took her for a stupid doppelganger of Raspbel which was also completely psychotic and sadistic, but that sudden emergence of thought from her showed otherwise. It suggested Soa was smarted than the angel gave her credit for, and that was dangerous.

"To reviving a previous shell with the soul imbued within it, yes," Aleista went on, giving a brief lecture on the nature of necromancy within the explanation. "A body, however intact or not it is, will still be a corpse all the same. Raising it from the dead via alchemical means or spellcraft does not mean it will come back to life. Think of the corpse as a puppet controlled without strings or any other method of maintaining a physical connection required to work the functions. Although it can perform the same utilities an individual with a soul performed in life, the shell is empty and devoid of the soul altogether. It cannot interact with the living aside from assaulting them or being under the control of a necromancer, liches if necromancers substitute their humanity for darkness."

 _"In other words,"_ Soa continued for her, _"a corpse—in this case a zombie—is nothing but a walking shell of what it once was; a literal former shell of itself if you will, pun intended if you want. A spirit, on the other hand, can be contacted and conjured from the afterlife if something is present as a connection to them. This object, whatever it is, will serve as an anchor or some kind of trigger object that is familiar to them, thus keeping them anywhere in its vicinity. Whether those who have died and became ethereal spirits are residual energy via the stone tape theory—meaning such spirits are unalive as projections of who they were in life and their actions—or in possession of an intellectual awareness of their surroundings and the present depends on the spirit's nature."_

"S-so does that mean you can contact their spirits, Miss Aleista?!" Ater asked nervously.

"Do you possess an object containing the very spiritual essence required?" the lich demon inquired, to which the cat demons shook their heads in disappointment. "Then I'm afraid all I can provide is the service of showing you their final moments and who took those moments away. I'm sure that will suffice, even if it's not enough. It is unfortunate for you both that I cannot collect the memories they left behind in other worlds because the energy I shall be searching for and showing is what comes from this world. If I were to effectively display the entirety of their memories, we'd have to traverse the planes of existence into other worlds and analyze the memories wherever they are." Aleista shut her eye and took a deep breath to prepare herself for the ritual. She removed her right glove to reveal the same mark Soa had on the back of that bony hand, the bones managing to stick together somehow when forming the skeletal hand. Unsheathing her scimitar, Aleista opened her eye and held the blade up to her face, the tip pointing upwards towards with the ceiling whereas the sharp point pointed at the statue. Dark energy began to radiate along the scimitar, and she held her skeletal hand out to the cat demons. "Each of you place a hand atop mine and shut your eyes."

"Yes, Ma'am," Ater and Arbus mewed obediently, kneeling down on both knees to set one hand each on top of the mark. Ater was on the left and chose to use her right, whereas Arbus chose her left hand since she was on the right side. They closed their eyes with the lich demon, focusing on the mental images she was beginning to show them. All the while Grora watched the spectacle as Soa stepped by her, making sure the angel didn't interfere with the deal. Pulling a ghoul's fleshy limb from a pocket in her dress, Raspbel's doppelganger bit into it eagerly to enjoy the meal. The angel merely winced in disgust and stepped away from her, letting the psychotic girl eat in peace. She certainly wouldn't accept a bite of it, not that Soa was offering her a piece anyway.

Instead of focusing on the doppelganger, Grora examined Aleista a little more closely. The lich demon was certainly…something, though she couldn't make heads or tails about why Aleista was helping them and keeping Soa in line. This girl was definitely the big sister Soa had referred to her as both during the Doppelganger Murders and just now, and the doppelganger herself simply gazed at her older sister affectionately. Their interaction kind of reminded Grora of Rawberry and Raspbel, with Soa being like the young demon while Aleista served as a comparison of sorts to the older demon. She supposed the lich demon was a nightblade if she had to guess, an old nightblade from a forgotten time lost amongst the annals of history with few to no accounts of the civilization she must've come from. If that was the case, how old was Aleista and where did she come from?

All was silent, save for the quietly somber shambling of undead and Soa's chewing of that limb. The doppelganger and Grora stood where they were and watched the ritual progress. Grora's patience with it was quite strong even if she didn't tolerate any of the four girls for any respective reasons she had pertaining to each of them. The angel maintained her good behavior, observing an enigmatic deal take place as she thought about the words Aleista mentioned: something about final moments being snatched away from the cat demons' parents. Bugged by the thought, she recalled her days in True Light and the assignments she undertook. Many of the innocent people she helped torture and kill back then included parents who never saw their children again. That thought took root in her mind and made her shiver in addition to the cold, musty air, her dreadful guilt rising in her. Perhaps Ater and Arbus were the children of two parents whose lives she'd taken, but she had brushed the concern aside because she could remember each and every individual True Light made into their victims, recalling the pictures she'd seen of those poor souls. None of the demons they've included among the death toll were cat demons; Grora was positively sure about that, and she also knew it was impossible for the only two children who suffered—those infants Hastur cast off that cliff into the frigid river below—to survive a severe fall like that and cold temperature of the water.

It was impossible…yet Grora just couldn't shake the feeling. If she recalled correctly…

That was the moment Aleista's ritual ended, completing the deal. "It is done…you've seen their final moments as I have promised…with the identity of the one who stole their lives." Raising her bony hand once she opened her eye with the cat demons shaken up after witnessing what she'd shown them, the lich demon closed several of the fingers with only the index finger held out. Ater and Arbus both turned around, and it was the look of their faces which deeply chilled Grora, chills traveling down her spine. Their faces were trembling with the rest of their bodies and they'd gone pale, though Arbus looked absolutely furious while Ater was incredibly terrified. The two of them kept their attention on her as Aleista finished speaking. "And their killer…" she pointed at the lone angel among them, narrowing her eye into a bland glare without malice, "…is you, Alela Grora."

…

 **And so the revelation many of you predicted earlier has hit Grora and the cat demons like a truck. I'd like to thank each of you who avoided spoiling the story for other readers as I appreciate it.** _Atonement_ **has reached a critical climax, and only several chapters remain.**

 **Before I wrap this up, I just want to mention a few things first. Earlier in this chapter I included a reference to the first Lord of the Rings movie, specifically a line of dialogue that Boromir says about how "One does not simply walk into Mordor," so I'll put in a disclaimer.**

 **Next, there are several mythological creatures featured in this chapter. First are trolls of Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore who live alone in rocky terrain within family units that didn't like humans even after being humanized in Scandinavian folklore. Next are the colo colos of Mapuche mythology which are malevolent rat creatures that can potentially kill somebody simply by eating the individual's saliva. Furthermore, I have also included the legendary basilisk of legends from Europe which is also included in European bestiaries. The basilisk was an interesting creature to incorporate since it is similar to the Cockatrice as the two are also considered to be like dragons. While the common conception of basilisks is that they can kill people simply by glaring at them if they don't use poison, I opted for Alexander Neckam's account that the glare was insufficient to kill its prey, an idea that was later worked and developed on by Pietro d'Abano a century after Neckam made his theory. With regards to the cockatrice, it is simply perceived to be a dragon with two legs and a chicken's head, so I constructed a bit of non-canon evolution since it and the basilisk are similar. As the basilisk looks like a cockatrice without the wings and legs, I made the latter an evolved basilisk, sort of like how Pokemon evolve if you want to look at it from that angle. However, I did not base this concept on Pokemon; though I'll still include the disclaimer for it just in case.**

 **As for Alexander Neckam, he was an English abbot, teacher, scholar, and theologian of Cirencester. He shared the same birthday as King Richard I which is why his mother had worked for Henry II as Richard I's wet-nurse. Growing up, Neckam and Richard I were like foster brothers since she raised him. Pietro d'Abano was an Italian professor of medicine in Padua who also worked as a philosopher and an astrologer. He'd been tried for both atheism and heresy by the Inquisition though he died either in 1315 or 1316 before his trial was over.**

 **Also, Aleista was named after Aleister Crowley, an Englishman who wrote poetry and novels while also being a painter. However, he is also a well-known occultist and magician as well. His ideas and perspectives of occult subjects contributed to the label he was dubbed as by society which considered Crowley to be the wickedest man in the world. Aleista is nothing like Aleister Crowley, though I did decide to name her after him because of a particular part of her backstory which shall remain unknown for now. This aspect of her was actually based upon an aspect of Crowley which is the reason why I chose to name her Aleista.**

 **You can find more information on them and the mythological creatures on Wikipedia.**

 **The 'riddle me this' line was popularized by the Riddler from Batman.**

 **I hope you've enjoyed reading this as I enjoyed writing it.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings; the books are owned by J.R.R. Tolkien, and Peter Jackson owns the movies. I don't own Pokemon; it's owned by Satoshi Tajiri and the Pokemon Company along with Ken Sugimori and Game Freak. I don't own Batman, nor the Riddler, as they are both owned by DC Comics.**


	23. Chapter Twenty-Three: Grora's Remorse

"It is done…you've seen their final moments as I have promised…with the identity of the one who stole their lives." Those were the first words Aleista spoke after ending the ritual, the end of the bargain her Lord made with the cat demons. She rose her skeletal hand, pointing directly at Grora as the angel watched Arbus tense up in anger while Ater quivered in fear. That was when a shocking revelation was proven true. "And their killer…" she went on, "…is you, Alela Grora."

Grora's eye bulged out in horrified shock, the impact of this sudden revelation hitting hard like an entire mountain ramming into her at full speed after it had been picked up out of the ground. Involuntarily taking a couple steps back, unable to believe the truth of the lich demon's horrifically delivered message, the angel's mouth hung agape even as she tried to think of something say. She had done horrible things in her past, committed countless sins against the Gray Garden…but this was a sin far worse than she could've ever imagined. The archer swallowed heavily, Soa's laughter at her drowned out amidst the wave of thoughts flowing through her mind. "M-m-me…I-I…" She whispered hoarsely, looking back and forth from Aleista's finger to Ater and Arbus. Her memories of those particular victims returned fully, and Grora struggled against them and this reveal as the truth was hard to accept and believe. Yet it was believable, no matter how impossible it was.

 _"A dim bulb finally brightens!"_ Soa guffawed, finding pleasure in the angel's disbelief that gave her such laughter. Her chortling wouldn't have died out on its own had it not been for a look from her older sister, though Raspbel's doppelganger made another pun. _"Lights were on, though nobody's been home for a century or so! Not too bright anymore now, are you Grora?"_

"Soa…" All Aleista had to do was say her name to make Soa shimmer down and stop.

"It was you…" Arbus murmured in soft anger, breathing heavily because she had difficulty comprehending the full force of what Aleista showed her and Ater. She and her twin sister couldn't understand it, how their parents' lives were claimed by somebody they knew and reluctantly placed their trust in. Somebody who lost her eye due to an accident Ater was responsible for, an individual who despised them both with every fiber of her body because of that, thereby always beating them to bloody pulps whenever she saw them. That person was in their presence now, standing directly across from where they were. Although Ater still had trouble believing the truth she was shown, it was not false because of her sister's reaction. After all, Arbus heard the story from Grora herself, fully aware that a crucial tipping point in her betrayal of True Light was those two murders Grora personally committed—the two murders of their parents. "You, Miss Grora…you killed them…"

Ater couldn't speak, the revelation drowning her voice out like water drowning her, for the analogy was exactly how the impact felt upon her. She had no words because none would express how she felt, how the truth of Grora's treatment of them extended far beyond those daily beatings she and Arbus received from her. All she could do was attempt to feebly crawl backwards in terror.

"M-m-me…I-I-I…" Grora parroted the same two words she had initially uttered in shock. Even her own words failed her as the guilt of her past actions engulfed her whole, swallowing her up in painful regret. The angel stepped back again, still trying to comprehend the truth. "N-no, I-I d-didn't…t-that c-cant b-be…" Her head was swirling in memories of the time she spent in True Light fighting on behalf of her fellow angels whom she believed were doing the right thing until it turned out to be nothing more than a lie Hastur cleverly concocted for his own purposes. "That's impossible…it c-can't be! There's no way…" she stammered, sweating profusely like if she woke up from a horrible nightmare in a cold sweat—a nightmare that was a reality. "They both died!"

"Who did?" Aleista inquired inquisitively with a rhetorical question. "Their parents whom were both slain by your hand when you ended their lives to turn the world they came to for freedom and peace into a burial plot?" Suddenly she warped right in front of Grora's face, giving the angel a frightening scare as the lich demon glared nonchalantly into her eye. "Or the two kitten infants your superior cast aside into that frigid river at the base of the cliff once you slaughtered the others in cold blood?" Her revelation rang true, for Grora did indeed remember now that the infants had in fact been kittens…just like their cat demon parents. "You did kill them and are aware of it. Why do you try to believe otherwise? Is it because of the unlikelihood of the girls' survival back then?"

 _"Or…"_ Soa added, slinking up behind her older sister to press her hands against' Aleista's arms while affectionately pressing her body against the lich demon. _"…because they survived?"_

They had survived…? But that…defied all odds of logic. Those infants wouldn't have been able to survive. They shouldn't have…but then, 'shouldn't' wasn't the proper way to describe that scenario. It implied she had hoped those infants died, but she didn't. She had actually hoped they would've been able to live, though realized that was highly unlikely as it was impossible. That was meant to be impossible…but they survived…they lived through that…and were now alive. The two infants whom had allegedly perished were alive and well…and they were right in her presence. She killed the parents of Ater and Arbus. Their parents died by her hands, and she was responsible for it. The blame rested entirely on her shoulders even if Hastur gave the order for her to commit the crime, and now Grora's guilt was towering above her, smothering her in guilty remorse.

 _"Oh dear, it appears her mind is shot,"_ Soa observed teasingly, though she was correct.

"It appears so," Aleista concurred, positioning herself to envelop the space in darkness so the angel and cat demons could be teleported back to Burial Light. At the same time, she also held Soa close to her in a warm embrace, hugging her adopted younger sister affectionately. "Anyway, we have already fulfilled our end of the deal. How they handle the information now is up to them. Our role is over, so let us release them to their home now. We've done our part, the deal is done." Aleista smiled down at Soa as the darkness closed in around the trio facing off two against one, a difficult conflict when the lone individual on one side did not want to fight even as another on that other side did. "Come, a bit of a celebration is in order. What say you to a hearty meal, Soa?"

Soa smiled back at her. _"I'd love to, big sis!"_ she chirped happily, shutting her eyes while the darkness surrounded them all, leaving only the two of them standing there in the cathedral.

As for the other three individuals from the Gray Garden, they were all brought back to the clearing where the angel fought the basilisk. Its scales were still in her pocket, a trophy she'd take back with her to Blancblack Castle to show everyone there her achievement. Yet it was empty.

That was the moment when Etihw showed up with two squads of guards behind her. When they arrived, they could see the aftermath of what had happened, even if they were unaware of the events that transpired. How the deal played out was unknown to them, but from the reactions they could see from the cat demons and Grora, it appeared that affair had gone south. They were lucky to have survived, but at what cost? The Goddess wanted to know, but felt she didn't need to ask to determine what had happened. Considering she knew about Grora's past and the felines' missing parents, Etihw had a good idea of what they all learned. The looks on their faces was enough to answer that inquiry, for she, Kcalb, and several others who knew about Grora's involvement with True Light could've made an educated guess based on the timeframe prior to her confession.

Yet it was too much for the trio to handle calmly. Ater was terrified and Arbus was furious. Like the white haired cat demon, Grora too was also frightened. Like the black haired cat demon, she was also angry. Yet how they showed these emotions and who the feelings were directed at demonstrated the impact of what happened and how it made them feel. Arbus was completely livid with the angel as Grora told her the story about her watching two infants allegedly die after killing their parents, and the revelation of her and Ater being those infants hit Arbus very hard since Grora slew their parents. Unlike her twin sister, Ater was beyond horrified of her as she'd suffered the brunt of Grora's abuse all over one accident she didn't mean to cause which made her feel guilty, upset, and terrified of what else the angel could've done. She took their parents' lives and harmed them severely after losing her eye. What else could Grora have done to them? How much farther could she have gone in her abuse of them? Would they have even been able to survive her attacks?

However, Grora felt the exact same things they felt if rather similar to them. Remembering that horrid mission Hastur sent her on _, she watched herself shoot an arrow into the left leg of their father. He collapsed to the ground with his wife suddenly crying out his name, kneeling beside him as the two adult cat demons watched their attacker emerge from the shadows. She shot yet another arrow at his other leg to cripple him, their pleading with her to spare their lives falling on the deaf ears of somebody who actually wasn't deaf—someone who was going to kill them. The angel drew two more arrows and nocked them in the string aiming for both his head and his heart. Both shots met their target, piercing both areas of his body. She refused to listen to the surviving wife's pleas, her constant begging seriously irritating Grora. These demons were getting on her nerves, thinking they could've snuck into their world to try and offer support another Devil could've offered to the Fallen Head Angel and the Gray Garden's Devil for the purpose of usurping Etihw._ If only Grora chose to listen to them…if only she bothered to hear them out, those cat demons might've been left alive for a bit longer until Hastur made the decision to cut them down in cold blood. Although they would've died, she would have shown them mercy at least. Unfortunately, the mercy wasn't enough for them because they were going to be killed anyway before seeking help from anyone.

 _She had embedded more arrows into the woman as well._ Perhaps mercy could've also been her doing the deed anyway. If Hastur got his hands on them, who knew what kind of torture he had planned to put them through. Would it have been worse for them than the victims they already put in shackles and tortured ruthlessly by harming them physically, emotionally, and mentally? Would the torture still implement such techniques, but on a terrible scale higher than what's been applied to victims from this world? It was unclear as Grora's head was swimming in guilt.

Their deaths played out over and over in her head, nearly driving her insane with fear and guilt because she could imagine all the scenarios that could've been possible. Scenarios that meant nothing but pain and death for that family of four, the infants included. If she were as cold hearted as Hastur was, would she have put them through such despair? Would she even have the heart for that? Would she be able to endure torturing them, taking away their hope and replacing it with an intricate despair to break them? Would she cast them aside like she had done with all their victims?

…

"NO!" she screamed out in fright, jolting upwards in bed with her eye wide open in terror. Panting heavily and in a cold sweat, Grora's chest heaved heavily as she breathed deeply to make an attempt to recover from her nightmares. She hadn't slept well, tossing and turning in bed since those nightmares plagued her sleep. They'd beaten her up as did herself over the issue, recalling a great deal of those murders she committed back then. All of the killings affected her, though these two in particular hit her hard by driving massive spikes into her chest to pierce her heart. Memories flooded her mind, endlessly tormenting her while replaying themselves over and over and over as if they were a tape constantly being rewound so she could watch and analyze all the details. Every time it played back Grora would be forced to watch the heinous crime, her sin preventing her from closing the only eye she had. The angelic lady fought to shut it tightly, but her strength failed her.

Violently swinging her legs over the bedside as her whole body trembled uncontrollably to remind her of how cold and scared she was, Grora crossed her arms and continued to shiver badly. Locks of hair fell in front of her face, her hair sticking to her forehead just like her pajamas. Grora was drenched in sweat, soaked by her own perspiration which might've drowned her in oceans of despair. Had she sunken to the bottom she would be able to drown out the sorrows, pain, and terror, for she would've been dead. Unfortunately, she was very much alive and well enough to remember her sin—the sin she'd carried for about a century, unaware of its presence and the impact it had.

She had taken the lives of those cat demons, the parents of Ater and Arbus. She was in fact responsible for killing them. Grora had been responsible for all of the deaths, though none affected her more than those. It had taken a long time for her to be forgiven by everyone even if she did not forgive herself, and now that trust she regained seemed to have vanished completely. While some of the other people she knew who suffered and survived the incident involving True Light might've kept their faith in her, two individuals wouldn't get over this. They simply couldn't because she'd been the one who committed that dreadful sin by killing their parents. Arbus and Ater were correct in how they felt, their emotions towards her after witnessing their parents' deaths at her hands were justified by that very act. They would never forgive her, especially because she abused them too.

Staggering to her feet and walking in a dizzy pace towards the bathroom, Grora threw open the door and rushed to the sink. Bile rose up in her throat since she began to feel nauseous, throwing her head forward to cough heavily. The poor angel felt lightheaded, dizzy on her feet as she could no longer hold the vomit in any longer. She puked into the sink, nearly falling because her legs felt really weak and unsteady on the tiled floor. It was only thanks to her grip on the sink that she was able to keep herself up even as she was breathing heavily. Although the sight of her own vomit did look quite disgusting, Grora couldn't even wince at the substance despite washing it out with some water. Cupping her hands underneath the flowing water coming out of the tap, she leaned forward again to splash the water across her face. Her eyepatch got wet, but she didn't care about that.

What mattered more was how she'd go about this. How would she try reconciling what she had done with Ater and Arbus? What would she even say to them? Would they even listen to her?

Looking at herself in the mirror, Grora shivered at the sight of herself. Before her stood an angel who had done horrible things. Her reflection revealed that much. Shocking as it was to Grora, she was too frightened to accept what—who—she was gazing upon. The mirror showed Grora she was a murderer, a monster who claimed many lives for the sake of traditional beliefs. She could've gone to another world with those who also left due to not wanting to accept the peaceful truce. She didn't have to follow Hastur and his pack. Yet she hadn't left, nor had she refused his invitation to join True Light when he asked her to help establish the organization with him and serve as second-in-command, his most trusted lieutenant within the order…until all that came crashing down with her murders of the cat demons' parents and Hastur's true motives revealed to her with his insults.

Unable to observe and analyze her own reflection any longer, the angel hunched over. She began to sniffle, tears forming in her eye which poured down her face and dripped into the sink. It was a horrible reflection because it showed her who she was, who she once was in the past. Grora couldn't take it anymore, so she formed a shaky fist and punched the mirror which shattered around her fist. Blood dripped from her knuckles, a few cuts stinging her even as she ignored the pain that minor injury caused. With one last breath, a somber moan of agony, Grora staggered back into the shower stall and slumped against the wall, slowly falling to the floor as she screamed in agonizing pain. Crying loudly, she raised her fist and smashed the side into the wall, her face in her left hand while sniveling. She was sorry for everything, sorry for all the pain she dealt to the felines.

Remaining there for about twenty or so minutes, she staggered to her feet and began to get ready for the day by taking a quick shower. Somberly brushing her teeth afterwards and using the mouthwash as well, Grora sighed afterwards and got dressed in her usual attire before leaving her bedroom. Slowly walking through the corridor with her head down in shame, bypassing employees who all gave her looks of concern and understanding even though she didn't want them, the angel headed towards the elevator and took out her cellphone. Having taken the device with her, she had just turned in on now and received a text message from Kcalb requesting she head up to see him.

Grora shuddered timidly, aware of the fact the office he and Etihw used was near the room where the cat demons lived. Maybe he was in there now with the Goddess, trying to comfort Arbus and Ater while hearing their side of the story first before turning to her. She didn't know what she could've said or even done, her mind fried and sizzled from the revelation's impact upon her. The thought of visiting the kitties to check on them occurred to her as she entered the elevator and rode it all the way up, pondering whether it was a good idea or not. Exiting at the top floor, she took in a breath of fresh air that felt stale to her because of her guilt. Nothing seemed fresh anymore. Grora stepped out and walked up the stairs, but she began to hesitate upon reaching the top. Turning her head to look at the bedroom door which was wide open, she swallowed heavily and began pressing both index fingers together, touching the tips nervously since she was terrified of doing this.

Approaching the cat demons' bedroom, she could hear Etihw's voice as she tried to soothe Ater and Arbus. The Goddess was only trying to help them, and it seemed she must've been doing a good job at it even if the results weren't what she expected them to be. "It'll be okay, girls," she said calmly, rubbing their backs as she held them close to her in a hug that included both twins. "I understand how you feel. Everything will be handled carefully, I promise you that. We'll take care of this for you, don't worry. It's okay, I've got you." Her words were kind, but she didn't smile.

The cat demons merely cried in her embrace, their faces pressed into her dress as they both cried over the loss of their parents to Grora. Looking up as she sniffed sadly, Ater blinked somberly in a slow motion, trying to suppress her choked out sobs when her eyes fell upon the angel standing outside their bedroom. Her eyes widened and she panicked, struggling to escape while yelping out in horror at the sight of Grora's presence. "A-ah…! M-m-miss G-G-Grora!" she cried in fear.

Her reaction garnered attention from the Goddess who also noticed her subordinate, so she turned her head to look at Grora and speak up to leave them alone in private. However, Arbus had heard her twin sister squeal in fright and whirled around to confront the angel, growling in intense rage. The black haired kitty attempted to go after her, snarling at Grora in rage. "You bitch!" She'd have pounded their tormentor into the floor and used her as a mop to wipe the floor had it not been for Etihw. The Goddess quickly released Ater and did her best to reposition herself so she'd get to the door and close it first before Arbus followed through on her plan to beat the shit out of Grora.

"Just leave them alone, let them have their space, Grora," she remarked, shutting the door. Left out all by herself, Grora could only swallow heavily again and do as she was told by Etihw to let her sort things out with them. She could still hear their voices even as she beat a hasty getaway, though her mind blocked out the argument between the Goddess and Arbus. Instead, Grora focused on herself getting chewed out for what she'd done to deserve such hatred upon her as a reprisal for punishment. Being let off the hook or receiving a slap on the wrist wouldn't cut it because it would not give Ater and Arbus the justice they sought against Grora. She'd accept anything if it could be a charge on her head those girls would welcome gladly since she'd be punished thoroughly for the sake of giving them that justice. Imprisonment, exile…even execution would've pleased them, and Grora would even go that far just to accept her own guilt by facing it head on however she could.

Stepping up to the double doors, she shut her eye and breathed deeply after swallowing yet another lump in her throat to clear it prior to opening one door. "I-I'm here…" she uttered timidly, unable to quell her own fear even if she'd take whatever reprimand or sentence the Devil gave her. "Y-you wanted to see me, s-sir?" Observing him look up and nod from where he was sitting at his desk, Kcalb motioned for her to take a seat across from him. Doing so by approaching his desk to sit down, Grora cleared her throat first while fidgeting uneasily in the chair. "You want a report?"

"That's why I called you up, Grora," the Devil responded and handed her a glass of water. Pouring a glass for himself from the pitcher he had on a little side table set up by the desk, he took a sip of it and proceeded to the point. "I heard you and my pets have been rather upset about what happened last night, how the two of them learned about how their parents died. That must've been quite heart wrenching for them to go through, being told the manner of their death. Eti said you've been affected by that revelation as well. Though I can make a theory, care to explain why?"

Grora breathed deeply, sipping her water to try and think of a way she could word this very delicately so as not to enrage him. She knew how close he was to the kitties as a father figure they relied on just as they also relied on Etihw since the Goddess was a mother figure to them. The poor angel still trembled, trying to control herself as she turned paler than she already was. Swallowing another lump to try and clear her throat, she took one long, deep breath before looking up to make eye contact with the Devil. Kcalb's posture and his facial expression were impassive, yet passively controlled because he was keeping a firm, level head in this crisis. Faced with such overwhelming control, Grora's grip on her own sanity and demeanor was slipping. "I-it was me…" she confessed.

"Hm?" Kcalb simply raised an eyebrow, doing nothing more as her guilt overflowed her.

"It was me! I did it!" Grora cried aloud, nearly dropping the glass as she leapt out from her seat to slam both hands onto the desk. Her eye was wide with uncontrollable fright, showing Kcalb how terrified she was of her own guilt and how it weighed her down more than any other burdens she shouldered. Her breathing was bordering on becoming erratic as she slowly succumbed to this fit that seized her in its grasp like a serpent suffocating her in its long body. "I killed their parents!" she shouted in his face, unable to keep herself from losing control as a little of her water spilled.

"Mm, I suspected as much," he shut his eyes, still drinking his water. "I've been going over the timing of when you left True Light along with all the victims your former order has slain. None of them were cat demons from the analysis I conducted, though I also compared it with when I had found those girls all alone as infants and adopted them with Etihw." Removing an object from the top drawer in his desk, Kcalb placed the item in question on the surface to reveal what it was. The thing was a basket piece, old and falling apart despite efforts to preserve its condition. Grora's eye widened as she recalled Aleista mentioned something about the object being used to summon those spirits of the kitties' parents so Ater and Arbus could meet them personally. Wondering if this was what she thought it was—the remains of the original basket the felines were in as kittens—she let the Devil continue speaking about it. "This was with them when I discovered them. I first thought you might know something about this after hearing Eti's report on the matter, though it seems you can already confirm the notion with your confession. You must recognize this from your past."

"Recognize it?! Hell, I actually touched it when I saw those girls lying in there! I read their parents' narrative of why they were coming to our world, but didn't believe it until I heard the two of them mewing in that basket!" Grora panicked, hurrying about in a frantic rush as she paced the office back and forth, still trying to comprehend everything despite recognizing it as her fault. "It's all my fault!" she cried out fearfully, her pigtails flapping in the cool breeze passing into a window. "I singlehandedly ruined their lives and it's all because of me! All because of what I've done, what I've become!" The angel whirled to face him. "All I did was follow Hastur's command; now their parents are in an unmarked grave—n-no, they're not because their corpses were burned! They have no grave, yet our world became their plot because I was the one who slaughtered them both!"

"Calm yourself, Grora."

"Calm down?! How the hell can I calm down after what I've done?!" the angelic lady cried and stormed to his desk, slamming a hand on it again with her other hand on her chest. "You must punish me, Sir Devil! You've got to, it's the only way Arbus and Ater can receive justice for what I've done by killing their parents! They deserve that much, Sir Devil! Please, I implore you, I shall accept whatever charge you see fit to sentence me with, anything: jail time, exile, death, anything!"

"We will get justice, Grora; they shall have the justice they seek," Kcalb assured her, trying to calm her frayed nerves so she wouldn't lose herself amidst this sudden stroke of panic. "Though it won't be acquired through punishing you, for you've already repented for your old offenses."

"Not all of them! I haven't been charged for murdering their parents!"

"You've paid the proper respects to all your victims, and I'm sure they were included too," the Devil put forth a light counterargument. He was right about that since the angel indeed prayed for the souls of their victims and those who lost the victims to True Light. Though it seemed Grora didn't really get the message, believing she was still responsible for everything. She was, but there was nothing to be gained by dwelling on her past actions to brood over them. The angel attempted to speak up and make her point that she hadn't, yet Kcalb went on with a hand raised to quiet her. "You cannot change the past, Grora, but you can learn from it by looking back at your mistakes to learn from them so history won't repeat itself. If you still want to truly begin making amends, you can start by giving your report on the events of last night before Eti arrived. I'm assuming you had kept Ater and Arbus safe, albeit with some difficulty due to the nature of this potential threat with your personal opinion of the kitties at a low point. Would that be a correct assumption, Grora?"

Breathing deeply while walking back to the chair, the angel slumped down in it with a hand on her temple. Grora shuddered, the previous night replaying itself in her mind. "Y-yeah…t-those two went in unprepared and got attacked by monsters. Soa came by to collect them and I went with them to the underground city's monastery where we saw the lich demon. She goes by the name of Aleista, and she showed them the truth—me ripping the final moments of their parents' lives from them. They had healed Ater and showed her and Arbus…" Grora couldn't stop herself from really shivering in fear, pausing in her brief account to swallow heavily. She tried to go on, but her voice died out since she didn't know what else to say or elaborate on when Kcalb spoke up for her.

"I see…Aleista…" He shut his eyes and put a bent finger to his chin, pondering on whether it sounded familiar or not; though it wasn't. "That name doesn't ring any bells. She must be a new face in our world. Were you able to inquire why she and Soa were in our world and what they may be planning if possible?" Grora shook her head in response, and he only nodded. "That's alright."

"It's not alright because we don't know what they're up to!" she protested, trying to briefly get her mind on another topic. It probably helped take her mind off the issue with Ater and Arbus. "I asked Soa why they and their deity thing hadn't attacked us yet—apart from the Doppelganger Murders, of course—and she claimed they were neutral. They must've been lying after what she's done! Maybe the Doppelganger Murders were just the first step in a total war against our world!"

"Or they may truly be neutral, Grora," the Devil raised a counterargument, trying to handle the situation accordingly without jumping to conclusions like she was. "Granted, Soa is responsible for the Doppelganger Murders; that much I can agree with and shall not argue about. However, we mustn't paint them as being truly evil based upon a single incident. Sure, Raspbel's doppelganger could be labeled as evil for what she's done, though we must also consider their supposed position of neutrality. In that case, Soa would be considered chaotic neutral because she only attacked other individuals and cannibalized them while finding enjoyment in her killing spree, yet she wasn't that hostile to us in the presence of Aleista. Though she was alone briefly when she gathered you with my pets, she had not attacked any of you even if her verbal responses may have been hostile."

"She got real pissed when I insulted their deity by calling it a worm," Grora mentioned, the memory of that still fresh in her mind. Soa really could've killed her for that, but chose not to.

"Did she harm you in any way as retaliation for that insult?"

"She screamed at me, but no, she didn't attack me."

"Then I suppose that might prove they are neutral towards us," Kcalb deducted, forming a hypothesis on what alignment Soa, Aleista, and their deity were categorized under. "Then again, I could be wrong and it might be a trap as you've implied. Still, we won't know for certain unless a meeting with them is arranged to discuss their stance and why they're around in the Gray Garden."

Grora sighed, figuring that was the approach he'd take with this possible threat. It bothered her at first, but after everything that happened, she wasn't so sure anymore. The angelic lady didn't know how to react to that decision because her mind was preoccupied by the problem with Arbus and Ater, how she killed their parents and had never known it was possible they survived. Grora's heart was full of painful sadness and guilt over what she'd done, and she could never make it better for them. After all, she had slain their parents in cold blood before Hastur disposed of them—only to fail at that since they lived. Grora was guilty and she knew she was responsible; he gave her the order, and she was the one who followed it straight to the letter. Well, almost, for she spared Ater and Arbus from a brutal death at her hands only for them to be thrown off a cliff into a cold river. Even so, that didn't change the fact she killed their parents, hence why she was responsible for it.

"I take it you still might disapprove of the decision, though I'm afraid it must be done since we wish to learn more about them to better understand how we can avoid conflict with them," the Devil continued speaking, feeling she may not have liked it even if she had chosen to give into the decision by letting it happen. Yet he also knew she must've still been very upset with herself over her actions in True Light, including the murder of the cat demons' parents by her hands. "Anyway, that meeting shall not be happening for some time at the very least. I've received word from Fumus regarding the failed invasion undertaken by Siralos. My brother and Lenny are returning here, and the Smoking God is also coming here as well to check up on our world. They've faxed the proper information to Justim and are waiting for a response from him. Fumus is on our side, and he stated we might have to choose whether or not we'll join the opposition against the Sun Heaven; though that has yet to be determined. In the meantime, we'll wait for them to arrive and then we shall meet with Aleista and Soa. Wod and I shall be the emissaries visiting them while Eti stays here to guard our world from any threats." Upon finishing the explanation, Kcalb suddenly turned to the window.

"What, you sense something?" Grora inquired curiously.

"Seems like a portal to the Sun Heaven will be opening soon above the castle," the Devil's words made her blink. His foresight was amazing, especially with a barrier set up to indicate when future portals would've opened. That was a prescient maneuver giving them an advantage, and he was glad he and Etihw established it to be better prepared for more assaults from the Sun Heaven. However, the barrier was also configured to also determine where the portals came from too which was another advantage. This plan would've helped them prepare in advance and be ready for what sort of attacks would come, and the barrier covered their entire world. It was invisible as the thing was a metaphysical substance allowing the people to enjoy the weather, nice days, and the sky, so thankfully nothing much changed aside from its construction. "It'll take days for it to open, but we will be prepared for when Siralos' forces do invade us again. Awareness gives us the upper hand."

"You'll get ready for it now?"

Kcalb nodded. "Yes, though we'll still need to visit Aleista and Soa. Thankfully my brother and Lenny are arriving soon with Fumus as well. Eti and I shall get preparations underway so our world can be protected via the same defensive procedures we followed during Siralos' last attempt. There's still plenty of time to receive the three of them and comprehend this threat prior to Siralos' invasion. Do not worry, Grora, we're well prepared. If you wish to take your mind off the problem involving Arbus and Ater for the time being so you can think of a way to make amends to them, I suggest you join the defense. It should provide aid in clearing your head to calm you down."

Grora blinked then looked down at her lap in shame. The offer was appreciated, but Grora just didn't know what to do about that situation. She murdered their parents and never knew about it until last night. She had never considered it, unaware that the puzzle pieces pertaining to the cat demons' parents and her participation in True Light didn't fit together until Aleista revealed it was her who killed them. Although the angel had suspected it at first moments prior to the reveal, there was no avoiding the shocking revelation and its impact upon her, Ater, and Arbus. It hurt them all. Maybe she should've accepted the offer to help defend the Gray Garden to focus on another thing. The Devil was right that it might've offered her some peace of mind to ponder on making amends.

"The invasion won't occur for several days, so give it thought and be ready for it. If you'll excuse me, I must be sending an escort to pick up Wodahs, Lenny, and Fumus and get right on the defensive maneuvers," Kcalb commented, standing to leave and walking out as she followed him.

"Y-yeah, s-sure…" Grora stuttered sadly, wondering how she'd apologize to the kitties.

…

Of course, simply saying sorry was not going to cut it. Actions spoke louder than words, a notion she believed in because the method was a much better way of showing proof. Evidence was necessary in order to support testimony, and that was why Grora usually preferred it over testimony because it was concrete. Words alone were just that, words without any meaning attached. Verbal language could imply messages and meanings, sure, though that only applied to sayings and crucial lessons to be relayed. Yet a simple apology meant nothing unless there was something to back that up, whether it be a gift or a promise to never do something again. This apology wasn't so simple.

Not to Grora, anyway, for she was still distressed over the issue plaguing not just her mind, but lives of Ater and Arbus as well. Although Kcalb may have eased her conscience slightly, there was still a lot of inherent difficulty dealing with the problem itself. Yes, she did repent for sins she committed in True Light and apologized to those who lost cherished loved ones because of her as well as the other members she worked with. Her crimes were great, but not unforgivable. This one was, for she had never apologized to the cat demons because she wasn't aware they had survived. Although their supposed deaths were not by her hand, their parents' deaths were, and that was not something that could ever be forgiven for a few reasons. First was her ignorance of their survival, and the second was that she hadn't apologized because of her ignorance. The third reason was her lost eye, the left eye that was accidently gouged out by Ater a little over a century ago. Arbus and her twin sister were very young at the time, unaware of consequences their actions had. However, Grora still bullied and beat them for that out of anger towards them and the fact nobody really gave those two the punishment they deserved. It consumed her, turning into a horrible obsession. After that shocking revelation was revealed to her, Grora began to feel…remorseful for her actions.

While she had felt sorry for them regarding their parents, it was Aleista's declaration which proved to be the undoing of so much hatred she kept bottled within her to express it as she pleased. _"And their killer…is you, Alela Grora."_ That statement alone, especially its ending with the added addition of her pointing directly at Grora, was enough to frighten the angel into horrified guilt. The suspicion she began to feel moments before also contributed to said guilt, leaving an open doorway to a weak spot just waiting to be struck. And struck it was, piercing her heart and memories because of the truth in those words—a truth Grora had trouble coming to terms with due to her involvement in it and also the impact it had on her and the cat demons too. That impact penetrated them all.

Whereas she was wallowing in her own guilty onus, Ater and Arbus were wallowing in the despair that brought them back together just as it had also divided them. This time they were united, though their personal reactions differed. Arbus, the one who tried to keep a cool head even as she'd been worried about her sister and eventually feared for Ater's life when the white haired twin tried to commit suicide which drove her to submit and give in to her sister's desire, was furious. Arbus' knowledge of their parents' murders beforehand when Grora told her about it was immense. She'd known the truth, but hadn't connected the dots either—in fact, she was the only individual with an awareness of those final two murders, those of her parents, which contributed to the angel turning her coat against True Light. Kcalb certainly did suspect their parents were among those slain, even if he hadn't originally been aware the foul deed was done by Grora's hand until today when Grora brought it up and outright told him in a panic. Now that the pieces fit together perfectly, Arbus had become quite livid with the angel due to Grora's mistreatment of them after killing their parents.

Ater, on the other hand, was absolutely terrified. She was completely scared of Grora. The angelic lady's behavior towards her throughout the decades they knew one another was awful and outrageous. Grora beat the living shit out of her whenever she had caught sight of Ater, even going as far as to include Arbus too due to the black haired twin's inclusion contributing to psychological guilt that also afflicted Ater. An individual important to Ater besides other people they cherished, like Kcalb, Etihw, along with the Head Angel, Arbus was a critical aspect of the bullying because harming her meant Ater felt really guilty about her twin sister having to suffer the same punishment for something she alone caused. The thought hurt her like the physical beatings, and both of those aspects combined with the truth of their parents' murders at Grora's hands was more than enough to traumatize her so severely that a significant chunk of her sanity was no more. Ater could scarcely tell if she was to blame or not for the beatings, helplessly letting it happen to them as revenge.

Grora caused them plenty of harm and trauma, but she didn't know how she'd make up for that. Saying sorry wasn't going to cut it since that was just a word, an empty word without meaning attached after everything she put them through. Some kind of gift wouldn't work either because it too wouldn't be enough to apologize. A promise to never do it again already failed even before the vow could be made since she already took their parents' lives once; once was all that was required for the promise to become invalid, unless she referred to other close kin they might've had. Sadly, there was no information on their past aside from their parents' murders. The only exceptions were the journal the older cat demons possessed which was destroyed with their corpses—and she could not remember what it said about where they came from—and that basket piece. The basket piece's presence served as a connection, something Aleista could've used to summon their spirits so Arbus and Ater could finally converse with them. If the lich demon had that, maybe that would be enough.

Sighing in somber frustration, knowing it probably wasn't that simple, Grora just continued to water the flowers in the garden while thinking about it. The basket piece may have deteriorated over time, hence the need to preserve it with magic. Etihw's magic was capable of that, and so was Kcalb's now that he was becoming proficient with light and holy magic. Yet that fact alone served as a possible obstacle for the conversation with the spirits of the cat demons' parents because their magic probably caused that piece to lose traces of its original identity. It might've looked the same and was the same piece overall, though it too must've had a soul of some sort, perhaps an essence of the original quality which enabled it to act as a bridge for that spiritual connection to work. With it in a restored quality aided by the magic of others, the connection might've become too muddled to effectively work with, meaning it was probably far more difficult or impossible to let the felines converse with their parents' spirits. If only that basket piece was still in its original quality…

"You know, Grora," Othros piped up as the four of them were working on the garden with him helping Rorin apply bags of pebbles around the edge of a sunflower patch. "It's no use mulling over something you caused in the past. Focus on the future, think of how you'll apologize instead. Dwelling on the past, while a crucial factor of that apology, will not help you come up with one."

"What else am I supposed to do then?" Grora inquired lugubriously, sighing in defeat since she felt the choice of simply giving up was looming over her. It was a tough decision to make even though the odds of selecting it were greater than the chances of apologizing. Although the angelic woman didn't want to surrender, refusing that choice seemed like a hard endeavor mainly because of how easy the selection was. "Look forward to the next upcoming attempt the Sun God's making on our world? Protect them from that in spite of what their decision will be regarding it? Remaining at their sides while they help fight off the sun angels who come through that blasted portal?"

"Those are a couple good ideas, Grora," Mitchell remarked to concur with her ideas. "What could be harder than that? Well, aside from how many foes you might be dealing with, that is. I'm positive the three of you together with our help if need be could take down any number of foes."

"What could be harder?" the angelic lady asked rhetorically, careful not to raise her voice. News of the invasion's second try was getting around at the little event going on. Apparently some of the employees had petitioned for a small science fair where students from the high school along with other kids from around the neighborhood in Gray Village could show some projects they had made. Seeing as how it was a good idea, Etihw and Kcalb approved of the plan and let it continue to develop and flourish since the civilians had enough time to have some fun before the Sun God's portal opened. Not wanting to rain on their parade, Grora tried to keep her voice down as the four of them went on with their work while taking small breaks to check out some of the projects. There was also music from several musicians called in to play some tunes, including Yosafire, Macarona, and Chelan; the rest of their friends were also in attendance as well. "How will they react to me?"

"Whether or not they'll accept you is their choice," Rorin stated. "At least you tried."

"To be fair, Rorin, trying and doing are two separate things in a way," Mitchell commented to present a neutral point. "Trying it is a nice gesture, though Grora would need to still be by them."

"Exactly, that's the point, Mitchell," Othros agreed with him, tossing an empty bag of those pebbles into a wheelbarrow for disposal while Rorin cut open another bag with his pocketknife.

"The most difficult point," Grora added, sounding defeated already by the prospect of those cat demons refusing her aid. They most likely wouldn't and would view her as an enemy. The fear of her was largely instilled within Ater, thereby possibly leaving her disabled by terror when Grora was near. By contrast, Arbus would've literally tried to kill her just as she tried to kill them multiple times in the past even if she hadn't always attempted to fulfill that threat entirely at times. "There's going to be conflict anyway, even among the invasion. They won't let me get close to them. I know it's only been hours since making that connection between my past and theirs, but it's still so hard."

"It's hard because it is," the bat demon spoke up to try and cheer the angelic lady up. "Yet your perspective of how difficult this is affects that perception. By throwing in the towel now right when affairs are at a critical point in light of their recent emergence, you're basically admitting to not even wanting to try. Had the circumstances been different, you probably wouldn't have really bothered to due to indifference. This time, however, your response to the issue is entirely fear and guilt. These facets of your feelings are holding you back, and although they are legitimate feelings, you must still make the effort to try and overcome them as best you can. As Mitchell said, making the attempt is one thing because you're analyzing the odds of success and comparing them to what your current beliefs are. That is the deciding factor in many cases, though this isn't one of them."

"Indeed," the angelic man said in agreement as a way of offering his support. "You actually have make the effort instead of calculating your chances to determine whether proceeding further, regardless of how far you may get, is valid. The opportunity is right in front of you, Grora, so take it right away as soon as possible instead of harping on the matter like you are now. It'll help you."

"But how exactly would it help me?" Grora inquired somberly. She didn't make eye contact with any of them during their conversation, though none of them minded that much since the three of them could understand her plight. They knew how guilty she felt from the moment she had first told them what Aleista said. _"And their killer…is you, Alela Grora."_ Those words drove a massive spike into her chest, making it hard for her to breathe at first until she got used to the revelation as the impact was finally beginning to sink in and take root. They made it seem like repenting via her making amends for everything she'd done to Ater and Arbus was unlikely, maybe even impossible. The fact it was true only served to make that feeling worse. Grora never let anything get to her like that, barring her membership in True Light and how that made her feel, of course; though for once she felt weak. She was still physically strong, yet her heart was weak. The flesh used to be willing even if her soul was weak, yet now that too appeared to be weak against this threat despite being willing to handle other threats like the sun angels and Siralos. "I'd go right up and be rejected."

"You should take the risk anyway," the monkey demon mentioned to encourage her as well by helping Rorin and Othros goad her on. "If you're that unsure about it, give the girls some space for the next few days or so until the invasion happens. Then go right to their side without fail. Ater and Arbus would likely be busy handling the sun angels to complain at the moment you aid them."

"Or directing their weapons at me," Grora sighed, done with the watering can and throwing it into another wheelbarrow. One of the vendors at this event was serving refreshing drinks which included water, soda, and lemonade. He came over to offer them some drinks on the house. Grora accepted a bottle of soda from him while Mitchell and Rorin accepted the water as Othros claimed the lemonade. The vendor was unaware of what their conversation was about, so he left without it being elaborated on in his presence since they didn't want to spoil the science fair for everyone. "I can certainly expect Arbus would. The look in her eyes when I saw her this morning was that bad."

"Then I suggest you keep out of their range and sight even if you're still by them," came a decent idea from Rorin, understanding his friend's life was probably in danger from the kitty with black hair. Even so, he also knew it was important to help those girls. "Just be careful and you—"

"WHERE THE HELL IS SHE?!" a furious girl screamed aloud for everyone to hear. They and the crowd who had gathered to observe the science projects were interrupted from the fun and work they were doing when all of them turned to face the girl who had shouted. Music died down, the separate conversations people had while showing their projects as the gardeners did their work also coming to an end when they caught sight of her at the doors. Standing there with the familiar trident drawn, gripped firmly in one hand with the spikes pointed at the ground, was Arbus herself.

"Damn…speak of the devil," Othros murmured quietly, watching her while getting in front of Grora to guard her from the enraged cat demon. "You might want to hide from her, Grora."

"I KNOW SHE'S IN HERE, DAMMIT! WHERE THE HELL IS ALELA GRORA?!" the black haired feline screamed again, swinging her trident violently and scaring some people who've come to enjoy the science fair. Unfortunately for them and everyone else, Arbus was ruining it.

Grora blinked, watching as her friends began to shield her from the threatening cat demon. Her eye widened in fear, the pupil dilating as she began to tremble while her lower jaw locked up when she gasped and took a few steps back. Terror engulfed her heart as did the guilt she felt over what she'd done to Arbus and Ater by killing their parents. Turning pale since she realized she had become the hunted this time, that Arbus came to kill her as revenge for their parents' deaths, Grora felt her voice die out because she didn't know what to say. If she spoke up to let the cat demon see where she was, she'd most certainly die at her hands. Yet simply fleeing meant Arbus would catch her sooner or later, plus her friends and civilians here might also be subjected to Arbus' wrath. Her heart and mind raced, feeling fear brought on by her memories of killing the parents of Ater and Arbus. Faced with so much uncertainty and dread, Grora staggered back unsteadily as she broke into a cold sweat. Watching Arbus approach her position, possibly seeing her, she whirled around and broke into a run to hide in the crowd by taking Othros' suggestion. An idea that was probably doomed to fail as the cat demon could've caught sight of her, but also due to the throng of people being around to witness and be caught up in this, Grora took it anyway without much hesitation.

She ran like a coward forced to flee. Grora didn't want to, but terrifying guilt overtook her as she observed Arbus' behavior just then. That was why she bolted, zipping past several people who all got out of her way except for one young angel near a platform where some other girls had been playing their music. Quickly seizing her foster mother's arms with both hands, Froze stopped Grora in her tracks and tried to calm her down. "Grora, what's wrong? What's happening?"

Grora breathed heavily, wondering how she could explain this to her foster daughter along with her friends who were also present with her. They remained silent since they let Froze handle this, surprised by the apparent fear in the older angel's eye. Placing her hands on the young angel's shoulders to steady herself, Grora opened her mouth to try and tell her to let go. She couldn't allow Froze to do this by getting in her way, for it meant Froze was probably going to get hurt too. Even though she attempted to articulate words, none came out of her mouth. Her voice was briefly gone.

"Why is Arbus shouting for you? How come she has her weapon drawn?" Froze also asked. Grora wanted to tell her the truth in its entirety, seeking to alleviate her guilt somewhat by talking about the issue with those who were close to her. More than anything, she wanted to make amends. She wanted to apologize to the cat demons for killing their parents and for everything else she had done to them. Grora tried to express this desire, but found she couldn't due to her fearful guilt. The older angel was beyond terrified, not knowing how to handle this problem afflicting her along with the two cat demons. All she could do now was run and hope nobody here suffered because of her.

Unfortunately for her, that wish was suddenly cast aside when her peripheral vision caught sight of Arbus sprinting through the crowd. Her weapon was still drawn, but the spikes were down towards the ground. That was a firm indication Arbus didn't want to hurt anyone except for Grora, though Froze's close proximity to the older angel put her in danger. "GRORAAAAAAA!" Arbus screamed in rage, running through the crowd and whipping her trident to the side, making sure her first strike was a blunt smack against the older angel's side. In a panic, Grora threw Froze away as she took the hit. The blow smashed into her cheek, knocking her to the ground as Yosafire rushed over to help Froze up after the younger angel hit the ground too. "YOU DAMNED BITCH!"

"A-A-Arbus…" Grora whimpered timidly, holding her right cheek which started to bleed. Her free hand held her upper torso off the ground, attempting to crawl backwards a bit as the black haired feline trust the trident at her. Yet the strike didn't penetrate her just yet since Arbus was not going to kill her at this moment. She was, though the cat demon allowed her anger to subside rather briefly so she could glare at Grora while breathing heavily. Arbus was also shaking, though not in fear as her fury had taken hold. She had gone into a berserk rage, tears pouring down both cheeks as she stared down at the angel whose life she planned on taking as vengeance for her parents. "I-I-I…" Grora stuttered, trying to find her voice as everyone stood back in fear, unable to do anything because they could only watch this play out while the older angel held her hand out to calm Arbus.

"You…" Arbus growled, nearly frothing at the mouth while threatening Grora. "You were the one who did it…It's all because of you…" She panted heavily, quivering in such violent rage.

"A-A-Arbus…" the angelic lady tried to speak up. "P-p-please, I-I-I c-c-can explain—"

"SHUT UP!" Arbus screamed, staring at her through tear filled eyes as she tried to remain calm and focused so her blow could connect. Her rage frightened the angel into submission, seeing how weak and helpless Grora was before her, just as she and Ater were when she attacked the two of them many times before. "Our parents are dead…" she cried tearfully, "and it's because of you! You took them from us, Grora! They're dead because of you! You killed them, our parents!" This accusation from her, while true, was absolutely shocking to everyone who watched and listened to her rant against the angel. Those who knew of Grora's past and others who didn't were stunned.

"A-A-Arbus, I-I-I'm—" Grora tried to speak up, fearful of what was going to happen. Yet what scared her more than her own fate, the death that was inevitably going to happen, was Arbus' facial expression. It was eerily reminiscent of her own facial expression whenever Grora got angry at the cat demons and tried to hurt and kill them. That look in Arbus' eyes was very similar to her own as well. However, it was different at the same time. Grora felt she was gazing into a mirror to look at her reflection, and what she saw was enough to cause some trauma. She saw herself within Arbus, getting pissed at the felines all because Ater took her eye. Unfortunately for her, Grora had taken something far more precious to them than her left eye ever was to her: their parents. Simply comparing the two losses together showed the inherent contrast, and now Grora realized what they, had lost was a pair of individuals they could never reacquire. Though she herself could've gotten a new eye to replace her old one, their parents could never be replaced. They could never return.

"SHOVE IT AND SCREW YOUR DAMN APOLOGIES!" Arbus violently cut her off as she fought to stifle a series of sobs and sniveling. "You killed them! Killed them for what?! What did our parents do to become your victims, Grora?!" Although she understood that Hastur had led his organization against the Gray Garden simply because he tricked them into thinking the demons and Fallen Angels were trying to usurp Etihw from power, the motivation for targeting demons as a basis for that belief was just untrustworthy bias. The same went for the angelic victims too. "You could've saved them by showing them mercy to let them go, but no! You slew them in cold blood!" However, it seemed she hadn't quite grasped the notion of how that mercy wouldn't be enough. It wasn't enough because Hastur would've slaughtered them anyway, even if Grora hadn't done it.

"A-A-Arbus, p-p-please—" Grora tried to beg, but was rudely cut off by the cat demon.

"I SAID SHUT UP! You murdered our parents for no reason, Grora! NO REASON! Why should I give a shit about what you have to say?! You're the one who slaughtered our parents and got away with it, yet that mustn't have been enough for you now, was it?! You had to try and kill us as well! Ater and I were your victims for about a century, Grora! A CENTURY! That amounts to the decades that make up that damn century! My sister and I suffered for too long, all because of a stupid eye! A stupid eye that is jackshit compared to what you've taken from us! It was merely an accident, Grora, an accident Ater caused which you blew way out of proportion! You took both our parents and caused us plenty of grief and sorrow! All Ater did was take your eye by accident! What have I ever taken from you?! Nothing, yet you also include me in your abuse as well!"

"A-A-Arbus—"

"SHUT UP!" Arbus screamed in rage, nearly striking Macarona down when the angel tried to approach and calm her down which forced Macarona to step away again. The cat demon merely shut her eyes as she shouted those two words again, opening them to look at Grora's helpless form lying on the ground before her. She growled, preparing to thrust her trident forward to pierce Grora in the heart. "You killed our parents and harmed us both, and now I'm going to end you! Consider it more than an eye for an eye after everything you've done to us all because of your stupid beliefs and that damn grudge of yours, Grora! NOW DIE!" And with that final part of her threat mentioned for everyone to hear her as Grora's other friends tried to rush in and stop her, Arbus began to thrust the trident forward as the angelic lady cowered before Arbus' anger, realizing this was the end…

When Kcalb suddenly warped in between them and seized Arbus' arm before the weapon's purpose could be fulfilled. Pulling her into a tight hug as a few tears poured down his face, he held her close as Arbus sniffled. "Let it go, Arbus," he spoke calmly to her, attempting to convince her to relinquish her grip on the trident. "Let it go…this isn't the way to handle it." The Devil shut his eyes, resting his head above hers while the poor girl could only start to cry. Dropping her weapon, she returned the embrace to hold him tightly as she wept. Quickly going over to collect the trident, Mitchell dematerialized it back into its orb form before handing it to Kcalb so the Devil could put his pet's weapon into his pocket. "Calm yourself, Arbus…you should've stayed by Ater's side."

"Grora!" Froze cried as she broke away from Yosafire to help her foster mother up as Rorin began to dust her off. "Grora, are you alright?! Here, let me heal you!" Raising her staff since she was lucky to have it on her at this time, the young angel held it close to the wound. It sealed up at once, though the blood had to be washed off her face. "Does it still hurt?! I'll get you to the medical center at once! We still need to have that looked at!" But Grora didn't respond to her concerns due to fear and guilt, breathing heavily as she opted to just run away instead. "Grora!" Froze called her name as the older angel ran out of the garden. She tried to follow her, but Othros stopped her.

"Let her go," he said, holding an arm out in front of her. "Just give Grora some space now."

"YOU'RE A MURDERER, GRORA!" Arbus shouted after Grora. "A MURDERER!"

That accusation coupled with the tense situation Grora found herself in on the other end of Arbus' trident was enough to send chills down her spine as she fled. Tears poured down her cheek while she sniffed, holding her head down so nobody would have to see her cry timidly in sadness. Barging through the double doors, Grora ran straight for the ladies' restroom to wash the blood off her face, passing by trio consisting of Wodahs, Lenny, and Fumus, who had all entered the castle. The two angels in particular were somewhat surprised at the sight of her, wondering what happened to Grora as they looked at one another. "Was she wounded during the Siralos' previous attempt to invade your world?" the Smoking God inquired, pondering how long it must've been since that.

"No, she was perfectly fine when we left for your world," the Head Angel replied, watching her run into the bathroom when he heard his older brother call him and Lenny and welcome Fumus.

Throwing open the door, Grora hastily rushed to the nearest sink and held it to keep herself steady. She was feeling a tad dizzy from the blood loss and also because of Arbus' behavior when the cat demon sought to kill her. It was a painful reminder of how she behaved around her and the white haired feline, and that frightened Grora a great deal because of how accurate that anger was. Breathing deeply while trying to recover, Grora slowly raised her head to look at her reflection. It was a normal reflection for the most part, but the psychological distress showed Grora traits of her own personality not present in the visual sense of her appearance. Trying to comprehend the logic of Arbus' words, she was suddenly startled by the sound of somebody exiting one of the stalls near her left. With a sudden startled cry, the angelic stepped back and nearly stumbled had she not took hold of the sink to keep herself from slipping and falling. Her eye had fallen upon the individual's presence, the girl who had left that stall and was also very much afraid to see her there. "A-Ater!"

Ater squeaked in terror, pressing up against the opposite wall. "A-a-ah…M-miss G-Grora!"

Neither of them moved for seconds, though Grora eventually made an attempt to recollect her bearings by gathering what little courage was left within her. With a couple shaky steps, Grora tried to approach Ater with a single hand raised towards her. "A-Ater, wait, I-I-I—" she stammered in a stuttered voice, losing the words she wanted to say as her voice died out at that moment.

"N-n-no…" Ater whispered meekly, building up her own courage as well. However, she'd been planning something different than what Grora wanted to do because she believed the angelic woman wanted to hurt her again. There was no way out but behind the angel, so Ater took a chance to run away by fleeing the bathroom. "G-get away! D-don't come near me! Monster!" she squealed and bolted past Grora, running out into the castle lobby. "L-Lord K-Kcalb, Uncle Wodahs!"

Grora just watched her go, stumbling out of her way and grabbing another sink so she could keep her balance. Her eye rested on the door as she could hear everyone out there talking, but soon she averted her gaze to her reflection in a mirror behind her. "I-I am a murderer…a monster…"

…

 **Quite an intense confrontation between Grora and the cat demons, eh? Although their reactions are different as are the ways they're handling the issue pertaining to Grora killing their parents, Ater and Arbus are certainly justified in how they feel because of that. Grora's reaction to what she's done is also legitimately valid since she is now showing remorse for it. Whether or not they'll reconcile this problem together has yet to be determined, however.**

 **Also, I forgot to mention in the author's notes of the previous chapter that a retiarius is a type of Roman gladiator who fought in the Coliseum. Known for a fighting style that was similar to how fishermen of that time worked when catching fish, a retiarius would fight with a weighted net to ensnare his opponents while his weapons of choice were a trident alongside a dagger. Retiarius in Latin refers to him as a net-man or net-fighter. The reason why I chose to make Ater and Arbus retiarius' in the previous chapter was because they use tridents. As I was searching through Google and Wikipedia for what soldiers who wielded tridents were called, the retiarius came up as a result and I found the trident to be a good reason for their class being that. Although they aren't like traditional retiarius', the trident alone will suffice as the identifying feature of this class which will be similar to a warrior and also a spearman. You can find out more about the retiarius on Wikipedia if you're interested in this gladiator.**


	24. Chapter Twenty-Four: Aleista and Soa

"So, the two of you have returned, and you brought Fumus with you as well." It was quite a rhetorical remark on Kcalb's part when he first saw them in the lobby. The Devil was still holding Arbus close to him as he sauntered over to greet the trio. The poor cat demon was still crying over the loss of her parents and how Grora was getting away with it. Although she was upset the Devil allowed the angel to run off like that, she knew he had done it because it wouldn't have done much of anything aside from satisfying her need for vengeful justice. Killing Grora wouldn't bring their parents back, and it could've also risked the beginning of a civil war between angels and demons. Kcalb wanted to avoid the latter consequence since he didn't want the peace here to be eliminated over a serious concern that could've been handled better another way, hence why he stopped Arbus from committing the deed. "My apologies for Eti and myself not being there to visit you in person. A barrier we set up in advance after Siralos' first attempt to invade us failed rippled recently. This barrier will let us know when future portals shall open, and it indicated one shall be opening to the Sun Heaven in a matter of days. We've been getting defensive maneuvers ready if that happens."

"That's quite alright, Kcalb," the Smoking God responded, still looking the same as always. The only difference in his appearance was the absence of bags under his eyes since he got in some sleep before the trip and during it as well. He was normally tired in his world due to so much work, though he slept to make a good impression with his appearance. Fumus did not bring cigarettes on purpose because he knew those were forbidden in this world. In light of any withdrawal symptoms causing him some agony over that, he managed to stay in top shape. The reason why he was able to handle it was because he had plenty of experience abstaining from the bad habit in other heavens and in the Devil's Kingdom when he visited GriRea on business; though Satanick was okay with it. It was a good social custom of his, one he upheld strongly in the presence of others who didn't smoke and also didn't want to be affected by effects of secondhand smoke. "Considering what's been going on in your world as of late, I can understand the cause for concerns. That being said, if I may, might I inquire as to what's wrong with her? Did she lose someone close to her recently in Siralos' first attempt to invade the Gray Garden?" he asked, taking note of Arbus' presence.

"L-Lord K-Kcalb, Uncle Wodahs!" came a cry from the bathroom as another kitty fled out the door and ran to the Devil. Holding his free arm out to embrace her as well, Kcalb allowed Ater to cling to him like her twin sister did while they cried. The two cat demons burrowed their heads in his chest, sniveling and weeping in his warm embrace. He shut his eyes temporarily as he began to tenderly stroke their backs, offering them as much comfort as he could give them. "M-miss…" Ater choked out a frightened sob, welcoming the hug he held them in. "Miss G-Grora…s-she…"

"Shhh…Do not worry about her, Ater. She will not bother you," Kcalb reassured her before averting his attention back to Fumus. "Ah, yes, allow me to introduce you to them. They are Arbus and Ater—Arbus has the black hair, and Ater has the white hair. The two of them are my pets, and Eti's as well since she also helped raise them too with my brother and I. The invasion among other things has left them in this somber state, though both of them have survived unharmed as have the other residents of this region which was the only space in the Gray Garden physically threatened."

"I see, that's good to hear," Fumus commented with a small smile which Kcalb returned.

"Thank you, it certainly means a lot to have a friend and ally with us in this conflict."

"Shall we proceed with a meeting to discuss how to proceed and what our role might be?" Wodahs asked as his older brother turned to face him. "I'm fully aware we've only just arrived not too long ago, though we really should determine any and all necessary courses of action at once."

"If you and Lenny need to rest, I can discuss the present situation with Kcalb," the Smoking God suggested. "I've already gotten enough rest for a while, so you two should take it easy for the time being. I can handle things from here with him, so why don't you go unpack your things?"

"Yes, that will be fine," Kcalb agreed and turned back to the two angels. "You two can get some rest for now like he said. There's a science fair going on in the garden right now, and it'll be over in a little while. Head on up to your respective rooms to unpack, and you can take some time if need be to enjoy it while readjusting to our world's time zone after your visit to the Pitch Black World," he instructed them, while looking over to nod at a demon attendant near them so he could provide the man with some instructions. "I'll be meeting with Fumus now. Take his luggage to an apartment; the ones on either side to Lenny's should be available if I'm correct, so pick whichever one and be sure to leave a note on the door for Fumus so he can tell which one was selected."

"Understood," the demon uttered with a bow and began to take the God's luggage and head up with Lenny and Wodahs as the two angels turned to wave at them while leaving the lobby.

"Now then," the Devil switched gears after they had left, "girls, do you know where Eti is? I thought she was watching you both when I last saw the two of you. Has she begun to do a tad bit of work in the office, or go to a meeting? Is she helping with preparations for the defense?"

"H-helping with the defense…" the two cat demons murmured quietly in perfect sync while still crying. Tears were flowing from their eyes down their cheeks, dripping on their shirts and the floor as well. "W-we didn't want to get in her way…" they went on, worried about being trouble.

"Hmmm…I see…" Kcalb murmured, still stroking their backs while addressing Fumus. "I don't mean to cause any sort of interruption, but do you mind if I bring them in with us? They are usually upbeat girls, though as I've said, problems like the invasion have left them in this sad state. The two of them won't be much trouble since all they need is some comfort to soothe their nerves."

"I don't mind at all if it helps them," the Smoking God of the Corporate Heaven remarked in response, letting the Devil lead him over to a room like the office he met Wodahs and Lenny in when the angels showed up to alert him of the Sun God's plans. Taking his seat across from Kcalb when they went in to sit down, he watched the kitties turn into actual cats, the twins hopping up on the Devil's lap and curling up next to one another. His arms were around them any they rested their adorable, little heads against them while mewing. This noise wasn't that bad to Fumus' ears and he could easily overlook it. It wasn't like other noise caused by some other things that occurred in his heaven, especially when the demons visited with Satanick. Yet he also didn't want to upset them because they were really sad for a reason he didn't know about yet. "Anyway, Wodahs and Lenny have already faxed back much of the information pertaining to what we concluded. What's been provided by your world has been validated and we've confirmed it as true. Siralos sure has guts to try and invade another world and an allied heaven, though information we received from your end wasn't the only deciding factor. Just recently the lobby of the enterprise I manage as its CEO underwent renovations due to problems in pipelines in the walls that carry water throughout the building. Turns the issue was caused by some portals that led to the Sun Heaven; apparently the sun angels who visited my world a while prior to this recent visit with Lenny and Wodahs have set them up. This supports the planned invasion of my heaven, so I am preparing to deal with it."

"Yes, I have received that information and I also offer our support and condolences for the damage Siralos caused along with our thanks for your support," the Devil spoke, nodding his head with a small smile to show his gratitude while petting the cat demons. They were still mewing for a couple minutes, but eventually settled down and began to sleep calmly even if their dreams were plagued by the nightmare of Grora killing their parents. "Now then, what do you expect from this world and what do you believe Justim might expect of us? What role will the Gray Garden play in the affair against Siralos?" he then inquired, getting right down to business with these questions.

"Considering your stance on conflict and war, how you'd prefer to remain neutral without pursuing foreign invasive forces, I suppose you might as well continue to uphold that policy. That being said, some additional resources could be welcomed and utilized for the duration of this issue. Afterwards, I shall see to it that what hasn't been used will be returned at once with reimbursement for what has been used," Fumus explained, beginning his answer with the first part of the inquiry. Next he addressed the matter of Justim's expectations. "Justim, however, may opt for actions that may be similar to what I've just said, or he might inquire for military effort on your part. I know a lot of the other deities on the Heavenly Council require aid in their own conflicts against the hells in their worlds, and he has likely provided them with necessary support in the form of troops with further materials and resources. That being said, any military assistance from your end might have to serve as a temporary replacement until he could provide aid in this endeavor. Once your role is over and done, he may either request you leave it to us or give you the choice of staying in to help."

"We can submit the resources and materials that are required," Kcalb promised him. "If we must send in troops, however, I'm afraid we must wait for Justim's permission and confirmation."

"Certainly, that's all I myself am asking for," Fumus concurred, thanking him for the help. "As for Justim, we'll just need to await his reply and determine how we'll proceed from there."

"Indeed," the Devil nodded with a small smile.

"Now, there was another matter Wodahs mentioned pertaining to another threat your world is possibly facing at this time too. According to him, a doppelganger of one of the citizens in this area killed and cannibalized a lot of people—what was her name again? Soa, right?" Fumus asked.

"Of course, I take it you're wondering if it's safe for us to deal with the threat of Siralos as accordingly as possible by looking into this matter to determine how it'll probably affect this?"

"That is one reason, yes," the Smoking God replied with further elaboration to clarify why he took an active interest in this other matter. "Wodahs also mentioned this doppelganger was with a lich demon if I recall correctly. A former resident of my heaven, disgruntled with how authorities and myself were unable to help her find justice for a crime committed against her family, has been rumored to be working alongside a lich demon. I have kept such rumors a secret, though I want to confirm if they are true by meeting this lich demon to discuss whether this is possibly the case."

"Ah, you're referring to Aleista," Kcalb said, realizing he was talking about the same girl. "Yes, one of our archers has met with her while guarding my pets as they were trying to complete a deal they sought to make with her. They've been divided over the issue of their missing parents, you see, and Ater has turned to Aleista for information on them; she even went so far as to betray the Gray Garden to Siralos in order to try and fulfill the term she was given. Arbus didn't agree to the deal initially, though she eventually went ahead with it by remaking the deal with Aleista. The two of them succeeded in acquiring the information they sought and…well, now they're upset."

"I see, that's pretty sad from the sound of it. I guess what they heard wasn't too good," the Smoking God murmured, looking down at them. "Seems like they'd have done anything and gone to great lengths in order to learn about such a crucial subject even if it was painful. My condolences for them, and I hope they can feel better soon." He reached an arm across the table to pet them.

"Thank you, I'm positive they appreciate it, Fumus," Kcalb thanked him with a smile prior to continuing with the matter of Aleista and Soa. "Grora told me Soa said they and the deity they're in service to are neutral, yet Soa was behind the Doppelganger Murders, those killings my brother told you about. She has been pretty tame according to Grora's reports on her behavior besides any other information pertaining to her and Aleista, though I suppose she must be chaotic neutral. The deity they're working with is apparently known as a Great Elder, perhaps some kind of primordial being of eldritch origins. Around the time of the Doppelganger Murders, we've discovered a place underground containing a city of ghouls thought to be extinct. They've had statues which included five such beings, two of which are known to us: one which looks like a six headed serpent covered in tentacles which is the being Aleista and Soa serve, and another is a similar serpentine being with arachnid appendages that two of our late anthropologists and archaeologists were researching."

"So, what do you plan to do about them?" Fumus asked, wondering how they'd proceed.

"Meet with Aleista and Soa as you've just said," the Devil responded. "Wod and I shall be heading down to the city where they and an entire horde of undead reside to speak with them. The undead haven't caused any trouble and didn't harm Grora and my pets the last couple times they've gone there, so I'm sure we'll be fine and safe from them so long as they're not aggressive to us. A risky idea considering what happened during the Doppelganger Murders and how we've got little information on them, though we don't see how else to approach this matter carefully. We do know they're most likely stronger than regular deities and Devils since Soa nearly killed Eti in one blow, and that they might be neutral. However, we don't know much else. Since Eti will be staying back to protect our world in case Siralos' attack comes sooner than expected and also to ensure we have someone of her caliber here in case we don't return, it'll just be Wod and I going down. However, since you've expressed a need to meet with her as well, how about you join us in the meeting?"

"Sure, I'll come," Fumus commented, appreciating the offer. "Just let me know when we'll be leaving for their base of operations in this world and I'll be right with you for the trip to see the two of them." He had heard those rumors he mentioned for a long time; now he'd get confirmation.

…

"It sure does smell down here," the Head Angel commented blandly, sniffing the air.

"I had asked the kitties about what they encountered down here with Grora on their second trip," his older brother clarified the source of the smell. "Trolls, colo colos, and a basilisk. Grora's taken care of this monster den singlehandedly, though Ater said Arbus killed one of the creatures."

"Seems like you've got quite a strong subordinate on your hands," Fumus spoke up to give the angelic lady a compliment through them, though Grora herself wasn't there to hear it. "I heard of such monsters in my world, yet have never really laid eyes on any of them alive. If I wasn't that busy in the office, I probably could've gone out to do some hunting myself. Colo colos along with the trolls aren't too difficult to handle from what I've heard along the grapevine from hunters who have gone toe to toe with them. It's the basilisk that concerns me because they can kill one with a single glare, at least in the Pitch Black World. Can it do the same thing in the Gray Garden?"

"No, the basilisks in our world aren't that deadly, though the venomous fumes are a major problem besides their fangs and tails," Kcalb answered him. "It's especially bad when they evolve by developing into cockatrices; that's when the glare can kill." He held a firm grip on his blade as the three of them walked further towards the clearing where Grora killed that basilisk, the location where the sun angels made camp before. Decked out in ebony chainmail armor while carrying the enchanted obsidian sword that dealt electrical damage to whoever was struck by it, he and the other two kept masks they took over their mouths and noses to breathe better as they too were enchanted.

The other men, Wodahs and Fumus, also wore enchanted armor while wielding enchanted weapons. The Head Angel wore a suit of steel plate armor while wielding the diamond lance he used during the war, and Fumus carried two staves that could each do hefty damage when wielded together to produce powerful blizzards. Wodahs' lance could deliver a burning blow to whatever opponent was pierced by it with the heat concentrated in the tip of the lance. The Smoking God's armor consisted only of armored robes for mobility. All suits of armor had enchantments on them to resist and negate significant amounts damage coming from physical and magical sources. They were essentially entering what might've been a deathtrap, and that was why the trio was well armed and protected against the possible threat before them all. They had to return safely if things failed.

"It's not unusual to encounter such a foe in the wild, though cockatrices aren't as common as their predeveloped kin, the basilisks," Wodahs explained further. "Thankfully none of the towns in this world have been attacked by monsters because my brother and Lady Etihw ensured people and their homes in settled areas are safe from that kind of harm. Monsters don't go near settlements and they are not located near them either, except for some creatures who could also live in terrain and habitats that are suitable for their biological systems to handle. We're alright with it as it helps improve the diversity of wildlife in areas, though I am surprised a basilisk was actually this close to Gray Village. It's a good thing it hadn't emerged to attack, otherwise there'd be trouble dealing with it among the civilians and homesteads that have to be rescued from the danger in time."

"I can certainly imagine how bad that could be," Fumus responded while listening to them talk about basilisks, including the one that was recently slain by Grora. "There are some monsters in my world that do attack settlements. Even the Corporate Heaven has to deal with monster attacks on some occasions, a few times whenever Satanick came over with some creatures from the Devil's Kingdom." He sighed, hating when the Gentleman Devil did that. "The trouble he can cause…"

"Sounds like you and Satanick still aren't on the best of terms even if you're slightly cordial with one another," Kcalb observed casually and recounted what he knew about the man. "Neither was I, though he was a decent business associate whenever I or the demons in my service required materials and resources from his underworld and any contacts he might've known. I wasn't really fond of him, nor did I ever accept anything from the black market Warwick ran in his underworld and Satanick's. Some of my subordinates back then might've, but not me personally. I didn't allow them to establish another sector of the black market in my hell by importing it over the border."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Warwick's underworld called the Black Market after the illegal business he runs by both owning and managing the black market?" Wodahs inquired.

"It was, and the name was limited to just referring to his hell alone," Fumus replied to give him and the Devil an answer to explain that. "Since you've probably become unaware of any news across much of the international sphere after declaring peace, I can fill you in a bit of what changed since then. After Etihw left the Heavenly Council to form the truce with Kcalb, the God over within Warwick's world fell to him. Details of the incident are hazy, though there have been rumors that a spy lurks amongst the Heavenly Council. At first it was believed to have been Etihw, but several other incidents arose which Warwick was involved in, some of which she helped participate in by supporting the investigations to the fullest. That was before her departure, so she's in the clear."

"Long story short, Warwick took full control over his entire world," Kcalb concluded.

"Exactly, thereby becoming the second Devil to have ever had that much control inside an individual world. The only other Devil who succeeded in the achievement before him was Rosaliya Phantomrose, the Flower Devil," the Smoking God confirmed his deduction to prove Kcalb right.

"He must've been inspired by what happened to her in order to seize power," Wodahs said to surmise on what the details of that event may have been. "The God of the Flower World, Liliya, was put on trial for war crimes against her and her people, and he was promptly imprisoned."

"A different means of losing one's omnipotent status, but the loss of a deity nonetheless is all that's needed to fully take over an entire world if said deity doesn't have a successor," the Devil among them uttered to continue the discussion as they approached the clearing. "One of the angels in Gray Village, Macarona, was actually lucky to have met Rosaliya and became a friend of hers."

"Oh, she came to your world?" Fumus asked out of curiosity. He had known Rosaliya was wary of angels after what she'd been through in the Flower World: the torture Liliya put her along with both of her parents who died during said torture through for his own sick, twisted amusement. Hearing an angel had actually befriended the Flower Devil was somewhat surprising, though he'd also been aware of the fact that Rosaliya's pain might've healed somewhat over time if not fully.

"No, but she does trade with the Gray Garden like you do," Kcalb responded. "Macarona's been invited to spend the weekend at Reficul's home once where she got to socialize with her and Sin along with other demonic individuals. Rosaliya was also invited too, along with Lil, Satanick's wife. Even Her Majesty herself attended the social gathering. Macarona made a good impression, even receiving high remarks from the Queen and the other individuals present, including Rosaliya and Lil." He turned to address Wodahs. "Wod, do you remember who else she said was there?"

"A spider demon Reficul and Sin adopted named Rane, along with a Head Angel in service to Elux. Elux has several Head Angels from what I know, though only Mercury attended too."

"Ah, yes, thank you, Wod," the Devil thanked his younger brother before talking to Fumus again. "Yeah, anyway, those were all the individuals Macarona got to meet during that weekend."

"She must be quite a regally popular angel to meet all of them," Fumus commented, giving her a compliment like he had done with Grora. However, Macarona was also not in attendance on this mission since she was back in Gray Village, probably finishing up the volunteer work she was doing with Yosafire as a guitarist duo with Chelan as the violinist to form a musical trio.

"Macarona's an ordinary citizen, but she's reincarnated from her ancestor, Rigatona, along with being one of the four main heroines of the Gray Garden in the fight against Ivlis," Kcalb said.

"This Macarona sounds like a pretty special girl if she's that strong and well-liked by those in other worlds who acknowledge her achievements," the Smoking God remarked right as they all entered the clearing. "I mean, you must also be pretty fond of her too. I myself can only listen to a bit of information like that and take it in to ponder what sort of individual she is as I have not met her yet. This is really the first time I'm actually hearing about her, though I am familiar with Ivlis' failed attempt to invade your world and how he and his forces were stopped by four heroines."

"She's writing a book on something else she did a year back: solving a conspiracy that had been hidden within the angels' society ever since the war itself, and even after the war was over," the Devil commented, leading them towards the center past some of the cavernous debris that was left over from Grora's fight with the basilisk. "We can send copies of it over so bookstores and the libraries in your heaven can sell and display them for you and your people to read." It was a good offer, one Fumus was interested in accepting so his world could have more books in stock. He had plenty of books in his own apartment—unlike most of the other deities he knew who lived in quite splendid living quarters such as palaces, mansions, and estates, he preferred a simple apartment—and he was aware that some of his employees along with much of the populace liked to read books. Allowing for that book the young angel was writing—currently in the middle of finishing, actually, for she was already nearing the appointment when she'd speak to a publisher—was a fair bargain, so he decided to take it in exchange for some books and funds from his own world as a fair price.

"Certainly, I can agree to that."

"Good, we'll speak to Macarona about it and see what she thinks. I'm sure she'll welcome the opportunity for another venue where her narrative of the conspiracy can be sold," Wodahs said as he looked around the clearing for the location of where Soa established that portal before. It was not anywhere in sight, even in the light of a light spell his brother cast along with the one the Head Angel himself also cast. Perhaps Raspbel's doppelganger had sealed it up, though the spot where it once was—underneath the basilisk's corpse as they could certainly see its blood there—was still a bit warm due to the energy that flowed through that portal. They could sense that warmth, though they had no means of opening the portal aside from standard spells in Kcalb's arsenal; except those relevant spells might not have worked because this portal might've worked differently than normal portals. "This is the place according to Grora, but the portal's not been opened. It must've closed."

"In that case we have no choice but to go the long way," the Devil commented, turning his gaze towards a nearby tunnel leading deeper into Burial Light. He narrowed his eyes, thinking the basilisk might've been a female and wondering if it had laid any eggs. "We should be careful," he went on, voicing this concern to let Wodahs and Fumus know of it. "That basilisk might have been a mother, and any eggs it may have had probably hatched. If not already, they might hatch now."

"Indeed," the Smoking God concurred with him. "We must be cautious, otherwise we will have a problem on our hands. Not too significant considering our respective statuses and strength, but a minor inconvenience nonetheless." Yet just as they were about to begin their long trek…

" _It's a boy!"_ a voice unfamiliar to them cried out as the portal they were expecting opened. Although Kcalb and Wodahs had never met her before, they were quite familiar with the nature of her tone of voice and automatically assumed it was her. The two of them weren't surprised, though they did grip their weapons at the ready in case Soa gave them trouble. Even Fumus wasn't fazed, yet he too prepared his staves just in case for the same reason. Watching her form rise from within the portal, they could see her eyes were closed as she was laughing hysterically, hunched over with both arms crossed over her chest to try and steady herself so she didn't fall over from laughing too hard. Apparently that joke she cracked about the basilisk as if it was just born then—or unless she referred to an egg of an infant basilisk she might've had that just so happened to hatch—was funny to her. _"Ah, that was a good one,"_ she chuckled, attempting to shimmer down. Opening her eyes, Soa averted her attention to the men before her and blinked in confusion at each one. _"Huh? You're not laughing?"_ she murmured, wondering why they hadn't agreed with her about the statement.

"No offense, but it wasn't really funny," the Devil among them replied, being polite. He'd heard of how strong she'd been against Etihw and was also aware of how powerful she was. Fumus could also sense just how potent the doppelganger was, and even Wodahs had a good idea of it as well. They were in territory they might've been trespassing on as enemies, so it made sense to not infuriate her. Still, they also had to be honest even though what they said might've been blunt, but they made sure their comments would come across as politely as possible. "You must be Soa."

" _Wow, tough crowd; at least I thought it was,"_ the doppelganger merely shut her eyes and shrugged, knowing she couldn't please everyone and make them laugh at her jests. A moment later she was presenting herself by regally casting her right arm out at her side and setting her left hand against her chest, keeping her chest out with a sophisticated air. _"Yes, I am her, I am she! Coming to you live from below, I come right before you good sirs to bestow upon you all the opportunity of a lifetime by basking in my glorious presence! Gaze upon me in awe, for I am none other than one of the two whom you fine sirs seek! But where are my manners, good sirs, for I have yet to properly introduce myself!"_ Although Soa knew her introduction had been with the Doppelganger Murders, she still gave them the display of a lifetime according to her simply because she could—after all, Soa was Soa. _"My name is Soa, Fourth Liaison to the one and the only famous Alchemist and Dealer!"_ With a bit of added flare she threw into the introduction, Soa turned partially to the side, putting a hand on her hip with the other hand on her cheek to pose like a model. _"Like what you see, boys?"_ she inquired seductively, trying to come across to them as alluring and appealing.

The three men silently observed her nonchalantly as Wodahs spoke. "Can we see Aleista?"

His remark sounded bland and uncaring, immune to the doppelganger's charms as revealed in his body language. Even Kcalb and Fumus were not impressed by the display either, though Soa wasn't deflated in the slightest. She just figured they were a tough crowd as she said. Although the effort she put into trying to please them with her charms was wasted which upset her, she was not going to show it because she had a job to do. Wasting time here when the Great Elder and Aleista instructed her to collect the men visiting them took precedent, and Soa knew that. She couldn't be hostile to them by attacking their guests, for she had already slaughtered several individuals during the Doppelganger Murders, hence the neutrality which she was only too happy to accept if she got to be with Aleista all the time. _"Yes, yes, of course, it's why you're here,"_ she replied, all too aware of their reason for wanting to speak with her adorable crow. _"Master and big sis have been waiting patiently for this day to come. The three of us have known it would occur, pinpointing exactly what time and which of the inhabitants in this world would arrive. Henceforth we have prepared for this little get together."_ Reaching into the pockets of her black dress, Raspbel's doppelganger removed several pieces of candy and held them out to see if the guests wanted any. _"Look, I've got candy!"_

"No thanks, we've come to speak with Aleista," the Devil declined the offer, watching her put the candy back prior to stepping aside and holding her arm out to welcome them into the city.

" _Fair enough, right this way, gentlemen. Ladies first!"_ Happily giggling at the prospect of getting to attend this meeting since her adorable crow was going to be there too, Soa turned around and skipped merrily down as the men simply looked at one another and nodded prior to following. Entering the portal, the three of them found themselves within what appeared to be some sort of a town hall office where they found the lich demon they sought reclining against a stone pillar lying against a boulder. Everything was in complete disrepair, the building's decrepit state being nothing more than a testament to what it could've once been. That was why their first impression garnered from its appearance associated this space as a town hall, at least an ancient one for the design of it clearly seemed to indicate the structure was once used by this old civilization's leader. Most of the décor and furniture consisted of stone benches and tables with gemstones emitting light and cavern foliage like moss and mushrooms growing from the stonework. _"They're here!"_ Soa announced.

"Ah, good, and they are unharmed as well. You've behaved yourself well this time instead of arguing with the guests," Aleista remarked, complimenting Soa on her behavior that elicited an elated reaction from the doppelganger who was more than glad to run up and hug the lich demon.

" _Thank you, big sis! You're such an adorable crow!"_ she chirped happily while embracing Aleista, positioning herself next to the lich demon so she could burrow her head into Aleista's side and snuggle with her. Her adorable crow welcomed the gesture and returned it with a small smile, directing it at Soa who merely shut her eyes and smiled back while giggling. _"I love you, big sis!"_

"I love you too, Soa," Aleista murmured, stroking Soa's cheek affectionately before turning her attention to their guests. "Well now, I trust you're all aware of who we are and why you're all here. You seek to understand us, know and comprehend who exactly we are and why we're here."

"Indeed," Fumus commented, taking a seat on one of the stone benches in between Wodahs and Kcalb. "Since you seem to have been expecting us and are aware of who we are already, why don't we skip beating around the bush and get straight to the point then? Is that acceptable to you?"

"As you wish," the lich demon consented, shutting her eye and answering. "Pose questions. We shall answer to the best of our abilities, though know this: we cannot tell you everything as we are sworn to protect some matters via silence and avoidance of anything detrimental that would be revealing our presence here in your world. As contradictory as that is, we have our reasons, hence why all we ask of you is to ensure not a word of our presence leaves far beyond the borders of this world. That is our only condition for this meeting, and we kindly ask that you fulfill it properly."

"We shall give you our word only if you answer our inquiries," Kcalb responded and folded his hands across his lap. It was a fair condition he offered, and although Soa appeared to be slightly incensed that they were still untrustworthy towards them, Aleista simply stroked her back to calm Raspbel's doppelganger to restrain her from getting mad and attacking them. "Is that acceptable?"

"Fair enough, what would you like to know?" the lich demon asked nonchalantly.

"First, tell us who you really are," Wodahs spoke first with that request, keeping it simple.

"I am Aleista, Second Liaison of the Great Elder known as the Alchemist and Dealer."

"Soa said she's the Fourth; how many liaisons are there?" Fumus asked.

"Five in total," Aleista replied, answering his inquiry. "There used to be one with a number of apprentices, though now our Lord has increased the number of liaisons at his disposal. Soa and I are the Fourth and Second respectively. The Third is elsewhere, off handling her own designs in a manner that aids us here by turning attention to her, yet also proves disadvantageous as well due to her actions drawing unwanted attention; a double-edged sword, if you will. The Fifth is currently on her way and is still in development, though she shall be ready before we receive our package."

"And the First?" Kcalb asked, wondering why she mentioned themselves along with a pair of others who weren't the First Liaison. He also pondered on who the First Liaison could've been, as well as the identities of the other two liaisons Aleista spoke of when she answered that question.

"The First is…" Aleista began, uttering only a few words until her voice died away. Tears formed in her eye, and she shut it to wipe them away. Evidently that inquiry upset her, causing the lich demon distress and sorrow by bringing up what may have been painful memories for her. The Devil was about to speak up and apologize while retracting his question, but Soa beat him to it.

" _She doesn't like to talk about that, so neither of us do,"_ Raspbel's doppelganger remarked softly, a sad frown on her face replacing the normal grins that were usually present. It was unclear if Soa knew why Aleista was sad, though she did confirm that while wiping away the tears. _"That's why Master made me her adopted little sister. The casket's off limits to everybody else except us."_

"I see…our condolences," Kcalb murmured apologetically, sorry to have brought it up.

"It is of no consequence to you, for none of you were aware of it, so you're forgiven," came the magnanimous reply from Aleista once she calmed herself thanks to Soa. Grateful to her adopted little sister for the aid, she averted her attention to give a small smile of thanks to the doppelganger which Soa gladly returned. "Now then, put forth the rest of your questions, if you'd please."

"Certainly," Wodahs agreed to that. "Who's your master, the Alchemist and Dealer?"

"He is M'nellkor, the Alchemist and Dealer as you've just stated in your inquiry. You have become familiar with the existence of Great Elders as of late due to Soa's previous actions," came another answer in the form of an explanation from Aleista. At the allusion to Soa's aforementioned actions consisting of her killing spree, Raspbel's doppelganger grinned proudly since she was very happy with that show of her introduction to the world. However, she did not comment on it because it would only upset Kcalb and Wodahs by aggravating them. She was supposed to be neutral, and neutral she was at the command of both M'nellkor and Aleista. Furthermore, her big sister was in the middle of an explanation she didn't want to interrupt. "And also due to the recent deal that was established and then reformed following its termination the first time. Yet you've already seen the image of Lord M'nellkor within the city of Ghouls, showing his likeness perfectly in an idol of his image. I speak of the resemblance the statue there, and also the ones within this city, the true form of Moreisineum, depict. Since you've seen that, you already know exactly what he looks like."

"Right, he does appear to be a very…serpentine being," Wodahs stated, choosing his words carefully, though also referencing other types of creature that could possibly allude to him. "There are other terms that might describe him as well: draconic and—my apologies if this is offensive—wormlike. Bear in mind these are just descriptive adjectives to help us comprehend this being."

" _Master is not a worm even if he may display tendencies like one,"_ Soa growled to put the Head Angel in his place, though she ensured her scathing tone of voice and the way she phrased it were not lethal towards them since she wanted to correct them on their conduct towards M'nellkor. However, she made a compromise with the notion by admitting he possibly came across as such.

"Duly noted," Fumus complied while Aleista brought out a statue from within an alcove in the wall. The hole was covered by moss which inhibited them from initially viewing the bas-relief, but now he could see the image his companions in this meeting were familiar with. "At first glance he does not appear to be like an average deity or demonic creature, but I can certainly feel how he seems to impress upon others an imprint of what he might be capable of. We cannot grasp or even comprehend the amount of power or strength a being such as M'nellkor may exhibit due to a nature of primordially eldritch origins. Exactly how old is he and what could he do with said power?"

"Like all Great Elders preceding and proceeding him, Lord M'nellkor is older than you can initially hypothesize for he is far more ancient than this existence and even the existences predating this current existence," Aleista explained for them. "Great Elders are not bound to the criteria along which the physical and metaphysical laws of creation, nature, and existence flow and function. An assortment of questions and scholarly research analyzed such subjects as their alignment, presence in existence, the measure of their power, and their creation and death. Unfortunately for every one of these studies, not one of them has ever come close to solving any mysteries pertaining to Great Elders; in fact, each and every single one of them is entirely wrong and doomed to fail because the Great Elders cannot ever be comprehended by the minds of lesser beings whose minds are fragile. To even ponder on these topics shall eventually drive one to pure insanity and madness, therefore effectively obliterating the mind entirely directly to the point when it will never recover at all. The act of even looking directly upon an actual Great Elder personally shall also kill the mind entirely."

" _Ol' Raspbel certainly lost a huge chunk of her sanity,"_ Soa chuckled, bringing her up.

"Yes indeed, Raspbel Preserves was the first individual within this existence who actually laid eyes on a Great Elder, specifically Lord M'nellkor," Aleista went on. "She saw him and her mind shattered, breaking completely. Fortunately for her, Lord M'nellkor mended it himself as it is one of his abilities as an Alchemist. He did it for two reasons: one, Soa required her in order to truly manifest as her own individual, even if she is a direct image of Raspbel Preserves—save for the eyes; and two, it was meant as an apology for what had happened in her lifetime and would happen later. By all means, Soa's actions towards your people were an accident on our part because she was meant to fulfill another deal. Her earlier awakening was unexpected; though Soa required a vessel familiar to the one she originally came from as that vessel was the only one compatible with her. The Preserves sisters are the compatible vessels, but only Raspbel was better developed to handle and contain Soa. Also, the Sun God saw our Lord too; though his mind is still broken."

" _Yeah, and Etihw's exorcism on her couldn't dispel me,"_ Soa added to the lecture, helping it progress. _"Normal exorcisms—that is, specifically those that are utilized by deities and exorcists of lesser planes along with some Devils, I can add—will never cast out a being who received power directly from a Great Elder. Only exorcisms specific to particular religions centered on a specific Great Elder are capable of driving out such beings."_ Here she grinned evilly as she was also going to reveal an incredibly sinister idea of Great Elders. _"And if someone was to be possessed directly by a Great Elder, the Great Elder can never be driven out or suppressed. As the Great Elder would be in total control, he or she can automatically snuff out a person's identity, memory, and existence in much less than a simple blink of an eye. In spite of the fact the individual may still be around as an empty shell, that person's soul is essentially tossed in the trash forever, never to be remade."_

"The first half of Soa's explanation is correct," Aleista affirmed that part of the lecture for their guests. "However, it is unclear whether the latter is correct or incorrect even to us since there has not been one single incident of a Great Elder possessing someone in any existence. For now it is merely conjecture on a Great Elder's hold over an individual once possessing said individual."

"So in other words, Great Elders and those with their power are far superior to deities along with Devils of a normal standpoint," Kcalb surmised a theory with this information. "They can be potentially dangerous to those who upset and go against them by threatening them at times, and as well as those who are innocent and mean no harm. Would that be a correct assumption, Aleista?"

"Most of that assumption is true since almost all Great Elders are malevolent, save for Lord M'nellkor as he is the only neutral Great Elder. Some demand strict obedience and punish failures to obey and comply, others simply cause chaos because it's in their nature. Lord M'nellkor shan't ever be like them as he prefers to deal with lesser beings instead of causing harmful chaos. Unlike every other Great Elder, he has no need for religious ceremonies to see and contact him as he much rather prefers to be easily accessible to all, much like how you and your world's Goddess are today. Lord M'nellkor is very generous and protective of those who live in the communities he makes for them, and he does not shun others or exclude them from such communities. While this may portray him as a benevolent Great Elder, he maintains his neutrality by feeling the soul of an individual to determine this person's intentions prior to welcoming him or her. Furthermore, the deals he makes are neutral too; only the recipient of one and his or her response to it determines the effects of it."

" _In other words, whether the deals bear fruit, go south, or both is mainly due to a specific set of circumstances surrounding the individual,"_ Raspbel's doppelganger clarified for them. _"You can take Ater and Arbus of Skrevera as an example: the former wanted to learn about their parents which was a noble cause. However, sometimes the methods utilized by the recipient are not noble such as her betrayal of the Gray Garden to sunny boy. It matters not to us how the recipient shall endeavor to uphold his or her end of the bargain because it's meant to be neutral in the sense that it can go either way: benevolently, or malevolently. Yet the deal can also end up being benevolent or malevolent in its aftermath, or both if possible. The girls finally got to learn about their parents, but they also discovered the identity of the one—namely Grora—who killed them in cold blood."_

"So deals are partial and not partial to those alignments?" Wodahs asked rhetorically while receiving a nod from Aleista. "They are strictly neutral when received, yet it is entirely up to those that receive it to determine how the bargain is fulfilled after acquiring neutral terms from him, and also how the recipient reacts to the results of it as well?" Again he received another nod from her.

"Correct on both accounts. Any more questions, gentlemen?"

"Just a few for now, but we may have more later," Kcalb commented.

"Very well, though time is running short. Lord M'nellkor has instructed me to depart soon so I may pick up the Third Liaison now that her designs are coming to an end," Aleista stated. "I'll be back some time after I collect her, so we can continue this discussion later if necessary. Yet the time for my departure is still in a while, so I do have time to answer questions until then."

"Very well, thank you," Kcalb nodded and shut his eyes while expressing his gratitude and putting forth another question. "M'nellkor obviously seems quite powerful and our initial thoughts of him as such included notions that he might've been capable of destroying our world. Aside from his neutrality, are there any other reasons why he may not wish to destroy the Gray Garden?"

"As a matter of fact Lord M'nellkor has come to enjoy your world," the lich demon replied in response. "The Gray Garden reminds both him and I of the old days. It is perfectly reminiscent of the civilization the two of us and the undead through Moreisineum were part of, save for angelic beings since such divine beings did not exist in the existence we originally come from. That is one other reason why he does not wish for it to be destroyed, so he has ordained us to help him protect this world and its people. Another motive for this protection would be as an apology for the damage and deaths Soa caused; as I said that was an accident we were unable to prevent from happening."

" _Sorry,"_ Soa sheepishly apologized with a sheepish smile. Although she, Aleista, and also M'nellkor were fully aware of the fact she could never be forgiven since her crimes couldn't ever be overlooked, at least she was being neutral now. _"I couldn't resist, though now Master partnered me up with my adorable crow. Thankfully the two of them are keeping me in line for your sake."_

"Indeed, and Lord M'nellkor will willingly provide immunity from the effects of gazing at him and also any insanity his power inadvertently causes in general. That is why he is not present at this meeting, though he can hear what we are saying. The immunity will be provided from him, but through us as we are his liaisons. Nobody in your world possesses it as of yet because nobody here has a real need to meet with him personally. The ancestors of two individuals did in fact have immunity during this world's war as they were staunch allies and friends, but their reincarnated states wiped their immunity clean. We owed the two ancestors many favors for their aid, though none of those favors were called upon because they were saving them for any occasions in which other Great Elders might've caused harm to their respective societies. Luckily they are in a position to reacquire that immunity along with their old favors which shall be doubled when we next meet."

" _Too bad Rasp couldn't receive it in time; she may be fixed, but she'll still be broken from all the trauma which couldn't be alleviated and never will,"_ Soa offered further clarification while also referring to Raspbel. _"Unfortunately, the two people—whose names we will not reveal due to our custom of protecting their privacy; yet I'm sure you can guess who they are—shan't receive their immunity again until our package comes as they'll deliver it. We're still waiting for it and must take our leave temporarily once it arrives following the Fifth Liaison's arrival. However, you can rest assured that we will be back once our business in the matter pertaining to it is over."_

"Yes, and we must also keep the identities of those who make deals private as well because that too is a custom of ours, so we can promise you that we shall reveal no personal information," Aleista vowed to them. "Although you may say the inhabitants of your respective worlds shouldn't make deals with us, you cannot inhibit them from making deals if they wish. At best we can ensure our deals with them are fair and can have positive benefits instead of negative consequences. Those cat demon twins are known to you as is the deal they made because of your associate and them all informing you about us and them, so an exception can be made regarding this recent deal."

" _We cannot say what our intentions are due to how secret our personal matters must be as we've got to avoid drawing attention from an enemy cult—no thanks to me; sorry—but thankfully these intentions shall not involve the Gray Garden as the threat won't ever reach this world along with the other worlds in this existence as said threat won't even be much of a threat anymore."_

"Indeed," Aleista confirmed for them and stood up after Soa released her from the embrace they shared during the discussion. "Unfortunately our time for this meeting has run out. I must be going to pick up the Third Liaison now, so I shall have to depart at this very moment. If you please excuse me, I will be going now. I bid you gentlemen a good day and thanks for your prior promise."

"We understand, though at least confirm rumors I kept secret in my heaven," the Smoking God requested, putting forth this final inquiry he personally wanted to address. "I heard somebody from my heaven was working with a lich demon, and I wanted to know if the rumors meant you."

"They have," the lich demon confirmed for him prior to departing within darkness. "She's become our Third Liaison in fact, and we are helping her seek the justice you've failed to provide her with, Smoking God. In exchange, she will forever serve as our Third Liaison and be bestowed with all the privileges that come with the position, such as immortality, invincibility, eternal youth, and unlimited knowledge and power—the very same power Lord M'nellkor himself wields."

"I see…" Fumus murmured, deciding he wouldn't keep her any longer. "Thank you for the support you're giving her. I am glad and grateful you can help her by giving her what I have failed to provide." With that said, he and the other men watched as Aleista vanished in complete darkness now that the meeting between them was over. To them it was informative and quite comforting.

…

 **As promised to Lovely Precure, I have included a chapter to shed more light on Soa's adorable crow, the lich demon we now know as Aleista. As I stated in a response to Lovely Precure's review on that, I had been thinking about including this idea in this story for some time and now I'm glad to have incorporated it. Although it is exposition which offers a few teasers that I've tried to keep vague on purpose for the purpose of keeping them secret, I still feel it gets the job done perfectly in my opinion. As for the teasers themselves, I can say they pertain to my future Gray Garden fanfics and one Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea story of my Wadanohara and the Moonlit Prophecy series. The details—mainly summaries—can be found in both the forums and on my profile page. Like I've said several times before, the Wadanohara series will begin after I finish writing all of my Gray Garden ideas. Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading this as I enjoy writing it;** _Atonement_ **is nearing completion, so look forward to the rest of it. It's pretty close to the end, and hopefully all goes well from here.**

 **Also, the idea to have Fumus duel wield staves was inspired by Skyrim because there are various options for what you can put in both of your character's hands. Whether it's one weapon and one spell, two weapons, or two spells is up to the player to decide. Staves are not any different in this regard, so the player can certainly make use of two staves as well. If you want an example of a type of character build that can duel wield staves, I suggest you watch Zaric Zhakaron's video on his Synod Artificer build. It's a pretty good character build, and I recommend you also check out his other build videos and similar videos by FudgeMuppet. These are excellent YouTube channels to go to for things pertaining to Elder Scrolls and also Fallout, though I personally prefer the material about the Elder Scrolls series in my opinion. If these guys don't want me to mention them in these author's notes, I'll remove the mention.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Skyrim; it's owned by Bethesda.**


	25. Chapter Twenty-Five: Conflict Approaches

"What do you mean he's gone again?!" she raised her voice, shouting at these subordinates she employed in her service. She had ordered those they replaced to keep her father safe from any and all threats by spiriting him to a safe house established by her for protection. With him absent in this dark time, there was no telling what could have happened to their world. If Siralos couldn't govern his heaven and the mortal plane of the Land of the Sun effectively, there would certainly be chaos throughout both spaces that would've plunged one another in darkness. Effects of that sort were already taking place with the mortal plane in turmoil because the theocratic empire there erupted into a schism that divided followers of the faith. Once it began, Igls Unth and her regiment of soldiers still loyal to her and the true faith were uncertain as they feared recovery could've been nigh impossible with the current state of affairs as they were in their religious sphere of influence.

When the massive civil war within the Sun Heaven began, it was unclear who was correct. Nobody knew which set of ideals to follow and who to believe in as far as those who advocated in favor of their respective beliefs. The Sun Heaven was where this schism first started, and many of the inhabitants were afraid it could also be where it ended, leading to the fall of their heaven from the prestigious grace it had once held in the Land of the Sun. Some fled to other worlds, finding a great deal of better solace in worlds where current events were more stable than in their homeland. Others remained behind, trying to maintain their respective grips on civilization before it crashed. If it did, it would figuratively burn and be an ultimate death of society; nobody in the heaven could stop it, and the mortal plane was incapable of solving these problems as well due to intense strife.

Amongst the opposition on all sides, there were three main parties at first: Igls Unth along with her followers who tried to restore their order and maintain it; a party of citizens seeking order as well, but also sought to replace Siralos as per their religious customs; and Hastur with his army of angels who defected from both sides to serve him. These sides made a triangle that functioned as the civil war's comparison with all three points fighting for control to make what the respective sides believed was right into law. As the conflict worsened over time, it was Igls Unth's party who realized something was dreadfully wrong: Hastur and his forces did not fight against them and the citizens because he was letting them both fight amongst themselves. That was part of his plan, and it was currently bearing fruit. Although she attempted to make peace with citizens, her plan initially created opposition among her own forces. That caused a third to break away and attack the citizens, wounding them and wiping out a chunk of them just as they themselves were wiped out by both said citizens and Igls Unth when she tried to reintegrate them. Then they went ahead with the peace talks that failed due to the actions of her soldiers when many of them broke away in disagreement over the idea. Another third dissented and began fighting the citizens who had now been weakened, yet that third too was eliminated by the citizens and her. In short, both sides accrued heavy damage.

Because of her party's instability, Igls Unth acknowledged that affairs were at their worst. Her party had split into three different factions, two of which were similar and had attacked another party only to be destroyed completely. Yet the citizens were all killed off as well, both because of the heavy casualties inflicted upon them in the prior conflicts against her treasonous soldiers along with the significant casualties Hastur and his party dealt upon them. Hastur's party emerged as the victorious politically militant institution, having lost no troops at all and not experiencing any and all casualties that harmed the other two sides. Because of him, the citizens were all slaughtered as their party was erased entirely from the civil war. That left two opposing sides left: him along with his party, and Igls Unth and her remaining third. Of the two, the latter was heavily weakened while the former was in perfect shape to do anything they wanted and kept Igls Unth and Siralos in check.

Believing only a miracle could help them secure victory over their foes, she braced herself for the worst and ordered a detachment of the finest troops in her arsenal to escort her father to the safe house and protect him there. That squad consisted of about two hundred soldiers, whereas the remainder of her forces were a little over three hundred—precisely three hundred twenty-seven as the main force while the soldiers with the Sun God numbered a hundred ninety-four. Combined it was a force of five hundred twenty-one individuals, including herself and Siralos; unfortunately, a broken man like him couldn't really be counted even if his daughter and the others accepted him.

"I-I'm afraid so, Commander," the lieutenant addressing her spoke, confirming their worst fear that had emerged recently at this time. He was right to be nervous because the God they were all striving to keep safe and fight for really was gone. "Our last message from the troops assigned to ensure Lord Siralos' safety has come back negative. No messengers were able to make it, though we did receive communication via telepathy through some of our clerics. According to their report, the last one they were able to send through before all of them were slaughtered, Hastur along with the entirety of his whole army—five thousand, eight hundred fifty-three troops—surrounded them all. Although they've confirmed some of his soldiers perished in the conflict, ours all died. Nobody from among the regiment survived, save for Lord Siralos as the final words relayed to us declared Hastur personally kidnapped him during the massacre. Lord Siralos' fate is in his hands now."

"Dammit!" Igls Unth swore under her breath, having finished listening to the report which pertained to that critical incident. This turn of events not only displeased the angelic lady, but also frightened her as well because the Sun God was her father, her creator. With him gone, this horrible civil war was bound to end in Hastur's favor since he'd become the new God of their world. Even so, he had already won anyway because his forces significantly outnumbered her own and she was in no condition to fight him. If Igls Unth encountered the man again, she'd definitely lose to Hastur and die by his hands. Yet the fear of also never seeing him again was also afflicting her and them. To her troops, Siralos was an excellent leader, a divine, omnipotent deity who would've led all of them to victory. To her, he was just that and more as he was her father and creator; he gave Igls Unth meaning and life, and she swore to serve him as both his most loyal subordinate and daughter.

"W-what shall we do, Commander?" one of the other lieutenants at this war council asked timidly, fearing the wrath of whatever darkness was closing in on them. "S-should we flee for—"

"NO!" Igls Unth screamed in anger and cut him down with her newly forged longswords.

"C-C-Commander?!" a troop leader squeaked fearfully, watching her commit the murder.

"Our primary objective is to rescue Lord Siralos!" the Commander-in-Chief declared with confidence in their strength. Unfortunately, even she realized that confidence was misplaced since her remaining regiment consisted of average soldiers, some of whom were promoted at once to fill the massive gap of experienced military leaders who had either defected and died, or stayed while still dying because Igls Unth ordered all of those who remained on her personal faculty of generals and other military leaders following the major defections to guard Siralos at the safe house. All of them were dead now, leaving the entirety of her remaining followers to her. All of them were quite unsuited to the roles she expected them to fulfill in place of her deceased staff because none of the soldiers left with her had any experience in combat. They were all mere recruits whereas Igls Unth was the only experienced officer among them, hence why they made objections to her decree.

"B-but C-Commander, w-we're heavily outnumbered! Our enemy already knows we don't stand a chance against them, and they're fully aware of our position too!" another troop leader said to raise valid arguments against acting against Hastur. She was not wrong, however, for they were indeed outnumbered and out in the open. Their main headquarters remained in the Sun Tower, and none of them abandoned it—they couldn't because Hastur and his troops already laid claim to the lands outside the capital citadel, mercilessly torturing and killing anyone who opposed them along with anybody too weak to even join their cause. Their opponents could've come right in to murder them all, but chose not to because Hastur wanted Igls Unth to suffer as punishment for everything she did during the civil war and before it too. Her remaining troops suffered with her as well.

"Bullshit, I don't give two shits about our numbers or the foes' strength!" she retorted while threatening her with the longswords too. "Lord Siralos means everything to us, and I shall not hear any sort of backtalk against saving him! We are marching right out there, and we shall kill Hastur and all of his followers at once without fail! We may be outnumbered, but our cause is the just one in our world; his is not! Hastur deserves nothing, he does not deserve to be a God! That is why we shall be victorious over him, and it is also why we shall never fall or succumb to him! Got it?!"

"We've already lost!" another poorly promoted military leader protested. "Look at us, each and every single one of us is tired and ill prepared to withstand this war! Our supplies and resources have all dwindled down to almost nothing! We will not survive! Our best bets are to either abandon our heaven and go elsewhere, or surrender and join Hastur! We cannot hope to defeat him!"

Igls Unth cut him down as well. "Silence, I shall not hear a word of anybody deserting our cause just because our foe outnumbers us and has become superior to even myself! We shall come out of this conflict victorious on behalf of Lord Siralos for his sake because I say so, and I'm aware that he too shall also say so! Anybody who defects by fleeing or siding with Hastur will die by my hand! Do I make myself clear, or must I slaughter you all to get this through your thick skulls?!"

"Pot calling the kettle black, you're just as insane as Hastur!" one of the lieutenants yelled at her, angrily leaving his seat to take his leave of the debate. He wasn't the only one who noticed the change in her. Others at the meeting also saw how the stressful pressure from the turn of events was affecting Igls Unth, and they didn't like it because it scared them. They had three options: stay by her side in the coming slaughter and die at Hastur's hands; side with Hastur; or leave. For some, if not all of them, the latter two options made more sense than the first. "I've had it with this shit!"

"Yeah, I didn't sign up for this shit!" another shouted and left his chair too. Some of those who remained stayed seated, afraid for their lives because Igls Unth would've killed them.

"Are you all daft?!" the Commander-in-Chief retorted. "Hastur will kill you all!"

"We've got better chances of staying alive with him than with you, lady!"

That counter-retort made Igls Unth growl angrily, upsetting her because her support wasn't getting any better by increasing. It was in fact dwindling like everything else they had. They were right, and she was wrong; unfortunately, she didn't give a damn about who was right or wrong. A trivial argument like that meant nothing to her anymore. All that mattered was Siralos, her creator and father, and she would be damned if she didn't save him from whatever torment Hastur dealt.

…

"How are the preparations going?" he asked from the platform he stood on with both hands folded behind his back as he watched some of the soldiers under him establish the framework they were building. The portal they planned to construct was coming along smoothly, nearing the end.

Having chosen only the most experienced of generals who supported him as the civil war began as his trusted staff of advisors, he worked with them to kill the opposition by playing both sides against one another and then moving in to slaughter one and severely cripple the other to the point where Igls Unth was so weak that she would definitely lose. He had figured the Commander-in-Chief planned to try making peace with citizens who began to reject Siralos, but not the religious customs that served as their world's laws. Hastur risked gambling with an idea that she would lose supporters over time since he believed part of her forces would attack the citizens. To ensure that bet was successful, the angelic man participated in their downfall by having spies pit the opponents against one another. Having accomplished that with all of the spies escaping uncaught, he did the same thing again. That second time was the only remaining shot he needed to eliminate the citizens, for he had known they would've hated the party under Igls Unth after her dissenting troops fought them. By utilizing more spies, the angelic man caused another third of her forces to dissent, battle the civilians, and lose despite inflicting heavy damage. With the citizens weakened, he only needed to move in with the complete force under him to massacre the rest of them and win unscathed.

Once one party was removed from the equation that made up this triangular civil war, there were only two competing parties left: his and Igls Unth's. He could care less about her, and wasn't worried about dealing with her. Hastur was fully aware that his opponent's forces were divided, a firm weakness on Igls Unth's part now that all of her experienced soldiers had been slaughtered in the recent raid. His spies reported back about Siralos being moved to a safe house, and they knew the exact coordinates of its location that enabled them to meet the enemy forces head on along the way there. Their ambush was successful, and again they were victorious; although they lost some soldiers on the mission, the goal was accomplished nonetheless: capturing Siralos. With the former Sun God in their captivity, Hastur brutal tortured Siralos to steal his magical powers and energy to form the portal. After he stole the Lebabylonian Blade, he calibrated the various torture equipment in the Sun Inquisition—which Hastur began using as his main headquarters for his forces after killing the Head Inquisitor and stealing his title—to have the same enchantment which was on the weapon. This enabled the torture equipment to steal energy from Siralos, and his life force which was included within that energy was powering the portal. Their target was the Gray Garden.

"It is getting there, sir," one of the clerics under him responded, saluting his presence over them. "Soon it shall be fully opened so we may successfully invade the Gray Garden and win this time." She smiled confidently, believing they would be successful in the invasion this time.

"Excellent, keep at it and increase the effectiveness of the torture. We shall need all the life from Siralos we can acquire to power this thing. Though be sure to let him live so he can continue to suffer," he commanded, allowing the clerics and paladins operating the portal to keep working. Turning around, Hastur ambled into the adjacent office and sat down at the desk that was now his. Eyeing the sun angel across the room from him, he raised his hand and beckoned the man over so he could hear the latest report. "Leihsuk, give me a status update on our opponent's movements."

Decked in a pure golden robe with flowing red hair reaching down to his waist, the angelic cleric approached Hastur's desk and bowed before him, opening his eyes to reveal green irises that fell upon his leader with benign grace. "But of course, Milord," he addressed the other angel with a regal title, acknowledging Hastur as his superior. "Our spies who still reside among Igls Unth to this day have done wonders with their silver tongues. They have split her regiment into thirds once more: one faction seeking to join us, and another that wishes to leave the Sun Heaven. Only those who remain steadfastly loyal to her only out of fear have remained. All of them in each faction are but mere recruits whom you are free to slay in the two departing factions; however, if I may, might I offer you a bit of advice regarding the faction requesting permission to enlist with us, Milord?"

"Very well, you may speak," Hastur allowed him to pose his suggestion.

"We use those disgustingly inexperienced recruits as fodder, shields for our more superior troops. By means of using their poor training to our advantage among Igls Unth's own retinue that consists of her own poorly trained soldiers, they could potentially pick off some of her forces."

"And in doing so, let them fight amongst each other again so we can slay Igls Unth and her party for good. A well-thought out plan, one we shall implement into our program and utilize it to the fullest. As for the force that wishes to leave, see to it that they all killed by further infighting if possible. Have our spies among them produce further tension between them via decisions on where they plan to go, and also play on guilt of those who fear leaving and wish to return to Igls Unth."

Leihsuk shut his eyes and bowed again, happy to comply with the order. "As you wish."

"One last thing: has the letter to Ivlis pertaining to the weakened states of his sister and his father been drafted yet?" Hastur inquired, seeking to also pit the Flame Devil against Igls Unth as well. "With him eliminating her for us, we can progress onwards with our invasion at once."

"It has been completed at your request, though the secretary is writing a final draft."

"Good submit it at once after it's been completed. I need not read it, for I have already said exactly what I have planned to say when I dictated it to him. See to it that letter goes out quickly."

Once again Leihsuk bowed in compliance. "Understood, Milord."

…

Watching the sky from a balcony outside his bedroom, the Flame Devil merely blinked and drank his soda. At times like he thought about the old days when he still worked for Siralos. Back then he was the only one whose eyes were open, the sole individual who could secure and take in knowledge of everything around him. He saw some things he agreed with whereas matters of other concerns made him wonder. Ivlis thought long and hard on topics that caught his eyes, enrapturing his attention to absorb him into manuscripts and scriptures he studied to become a better follower of his father, the man who created him. Many hours of days were spent in the Sun Tower library, his face directed towards the books that captivated him. Although he did face ridicule for his ideas and the fact he'd been the only demon Siralos created, Ivlis was quite happy with his lifestyle as a bookworm. Even after he received the opportunity to produce his own demons, he was satisfied because of his passion for reading and intricate knowledge he sought to study through research.

It was a shame those traits led to his downfall at the hands of Siralos. His creator, the man he once considered to be his father, betrayed him. The Sun God hadn't created him to be loyal, but to question the faith that drove the Land of the Sun. In doing so, Siralos attempted to give himself justification for Ivlis' fall from the Sun Heaven. By questioning their world's religion which relied heavily on the sun since the sun was the faith's focal point, he fell into Siralos' trap. He could not do anything to save himself because even though he acquired plenty of knowledge and became an intellectual scholar among his fellow demons and the angels who resided in the Sun Heaven prior to his fall, Ivlis was not able to grasp the issue of who could belong in the light and who couldn't. He hadn't understood the nature of why some individuals were cast out of it without ever receiving it, and he also couldn't get how those who lost it couldn't be welcomed back via redemption from atoning for whatever sins they committed against the light. To him it felt confusing and unfair, for it seemed like the light was being tailored only to specific individuals who gained it from faith. Its prejudicial aspects in that perspective were apparent in the blind faith people had in the sun which befuddled him since he didn't understand why the angels were not asking questions about the light.

Then came his fall when he posed those concerns to Siralos while inquiring about what he needed to do in order to make a difference by improving their religious customs to include subjects such as redemption and atonement. The Sun God refused to listen, choosing instead to declare Ivlis as a traitor and tear his wings off before casting the poor demonic man into their world's hell. That was the plan all along, and Ivlis was a foolish pawn who played himself into that checkmate. That was a costly move he was unaware of until after he had fallen when his hatred towards Siralos had begun to consume him, engulfing Ivlis into a state of anger against his creator. He wanted revenge against the man he once referred to as his father, and did anything necessary to ensure he garnered power for that endeavor. Ivlis beat down all the other factions in the Flame Underworld, becoming the Devil through civil warfare and holding his title and power very carefully. At some point he'd gotten word of the Gray Garden and chose to invade it so he could steal Kcalb's power, though his invasion failed and he had no choice but to retreat after losing many of his troops in the assault.

Ivlis sighed, staring at the sky. "This is all your fault, Siralos…" he muttered, drinking his soda. "My life was fine until you showed your true colors. Everything went to hell because of you. I swear I shall have vengeance upon you, you wretched cur." Averting his attention down from the sky, the Flame Devil observed a training regimen of soldiers in his army practicing for the invasion. A while back he sensed something was wrong within the Sun Heaven, feeling something he hadn't felt before: conflict. The Sun Heaven was in turmoil, and although he did not know exactly how it occurred or what was going on, Ivlis wasn't going to let this opportunity pass. He sensed his former comrades up there were getting weak, but from what? It didn't matter to him so long as he seized this chance for vengeance. Once Siralos was out of power, he would lay claim to the lands he once considered his home to reclaim them for himself. Ivlis planned on making knowledge available to everyone who supported him, and would even usher in ideas he believed in. While the Sun Heaven had been a place of religious fanaticism with the mortal plane following it blindly like the angels under Siralos, the Flame Underworld became a scholarly place under Ivlis despite a tendency for destruction. Intellectual pursuits became a norm, and he'd spread them in the Sun Heaven as well.

Taking a deep breath he turned to head inside, sauntering down the hallway while finishing his soda. Making his way towards the throne room, Ivlis pondered on an odd passage he discovered in one of the old tomes he found within the Sun Tower's library. Having located a dusty collection of manuscripts that hadn't been tended to for what may have been years, decades, centuries, or the longer millennia, the Flame Devil—then an ordinary flame demon—had uncovered such a treasure trove of knowledge that he cleaned them up as best he could before poring over them. Every single one of them provided historical accounts on their world's past, and the most ancient tale concerned an order of angels who had sealed something evil away before founding the Sun Heaven. Reading over that particular passage, Ivlis learned the evil was replaced by the sun and that its light became the foundation around which the Land of the Sun was created. For some strange reason, however, the passage encouraged angels to protect the sun without converting its light into divine holy magic that deities could use, warning those who did about a tainted corruption such power produced. He couldn't help but wonder what it was about, but Ivlis planned on following that advice and studying it too so he could better understand what it was about, what that evil was, and how to keep it sealed.

Upon entering the throne room, he caught sight of Emalf approaching and sat down on the throne just as his subordinate reached the foot of several stairs leading up to his throne. "You have business with me, Emalf?" he inquired nonchalantly, accepting a letter the lesser demon gave him.

"You've got mail, sir," Emalf commented casually, sticking his hands into his pockets and watching the Devil cut into the envelope with a letter opener Ivlis retrieved from his jacket pocket. "There's no return address, suggesting the sender is anonymous. Whoever it was wasn't found; all we found was the letter left behind on the entranceway doors. I examined the envelope; there's no poison of any kind on it, and I certainly couldn't smell any in it either." As Emalf's curiosity began to get the better of him, he further analyzed the envelope for any additional details that might have been inside once Ivlis removed the letter. Yet nothing was written inside, showing it was all blank. "There's nothing else in here aside from that letter. I can only wonder who sent it to us and why."

"I don't know who our mysterious benefactor is, Emalf, but this individual certainly seems to be aware of one thing," the Flame Devil began to explain. "Apparently the weakness I sensed a while back from the Sun Heaven is confirmed. According to our mysterious sender, Siralos finally fell after becoming mentally crippled by two or three enigmatic foes. Igls Unth attempted to restore order, though was faced with a civil war. Whoever informed us of this wants us to get involved by smashing Igls Unth's forces to utterly annihilate them." Ivlis smiled, grateful for this opportunity.

"What if it's a trap, sir?" Emalf asked, wanting to avoid the complacent attitude they were displaying during their invasion of the Gray Garden. "Should we prepare with caution in mind?"

"Duly noted," Ivlis replied, flashing his subordinate a sinister grin. "Let's get to work."

…

"Everybody is preparing for war these days…" she murmured softly to her friend, looking out over the pasture in her dream with a sigh that escaped her mouth. The angel's lone eye blinked, her somber facial expression indicating she was depressed over the state of affairs and how they've taken a recent turn. With the way things were going, the Gray Garden was going to be involved in yet another conflict. This time, however, they weren't defending their world, but invading another instead. Technically they were defending this world along with other worlds too, though the tactic this time was to take the offensive by committing effort into said invasion. It saddened her how an assortment of peaceful ideals like the ones defended here were kind of contradicted by this affair.

Following the Smoking God's visit to their world, Etihw received a message directly from Justim himself. The God of All Gods had reviewed the recent events fairly, taking all options into consideration while listening to the advice of others involved in the matter, namely Fumus. While the Smoking God did offer his recommendation of allowing the Gray Garden to retain its neutrality in the war against Siralos, Justim wholeheartedly agreed despite requesting military aid. As Fumus informed Kcalb during their meeting, he said Justim probably couldn't spare any troops to help in the defensive invasion. His prediction turned out to be correct, and it loomed over everyone which meant the Gray Garden did indeed have to supply troops. Such news was disheartening since many people of this world could've died or gotten seriously injured in this conflict, yet brave souls were numerous in volunteering to enlist freely for the sake of protecting their world and other worlds.

In light of her pride about how good-natured they were and how they were considering the much bigger picture, Grora felt otherwise due to more recent events—namely the discovery of her being the one who killed the cat demons' parents. That revelation horrified her, shocking the poor angelic lady to her very core by shattering the foundation of who she was and had become, not just to others besides the kitties, but also to Ater and Arbus themselves. Both felines were also terrified of it, yet Arbus despised her for everything whereas all of that frightened Ater. The fact that she'd been involved in a radical organization led by a man who sought to advance his own interests was something Grora accepted as much as she didn't like it. Now, though…now it felt like she was not ready to fully accept it anymore, that she wanted to abolish her past for good by going back in time to prevent it all from happening. If such a notion were possible, she would take it regardless of the consequences pertaining to messing with the past and future by changing the former. But it wasn't.

" _It is what it is, Grora,"_ Robin remarked to try and help her come to terms with everything. Seeing the living angel in this state of constant depression worried her. She'd known Grora during the war—not that well, but still—and it bothered the spiritual angel because it didn't seem like the old Grora she knew. Before, Grora was always a hothead, rushing into the fray to save her friends and others she cherished. Even though she attempted to think things through and over, a lot of the time she usually had to be the one in need of saving whenever she went too far. Sometimes Grora had to be stopped from pulling crazy stunts. Now Grora looked to be a shadow of her former self. _"You cannot change the past, but you can live for the future by taking control of your present."_

"It is what it is…" Grora repeated those words, finding no solace in her friend's comforting presence and the words she spoke. "Just as it always is…fate's a fickle bitch, isn't she, Robin?"

" _True, it can be erratically unpredictable in how fate flows,"_ Robin concurred with her to raise another point of her own. _"Yet there is a silver lining in the fact that we are in control of our destinies, Grora. The choices we make can define the path we take in life even if we cannot see the end of it. Fortunately, we can prolong the journey to prevent ourselves from reaching the end at a quicker pace by making steady decisions that will affect the length of our respective paths, as well as the paths of others who are connected to us. These links are connected to more chains too."_

"An unending chain of bonds…with others, through others…" Grora sighed, feeling defeat at the end of her own path was already close ahead. She faced a mountain of a hurdle about Arbus and Ater, uncertainty weighing her down from making the ascent to reach them. Saying sorry was not going to be easy, and neither was proving it for that matter. After killing their parents alongside all the abuse she put them through, Grora was beginning to believe there was no point to anything anymore. Perhaps she should've simply given up, an idea that occurred to her as she looked at her spiritual friend. "My choices in life defined your end, Robin…they defined the end of others along with you. I was responsible for your death, and the deaths of many more…by ending their paths."

" _You did…"_ Robin agreed, feeling she had no choice in the matter but to use some kind of psychology on the other angel. By acting as a mirror of some sort, she hoped to help Grora acquire a sense of gentle rejuvenation. Reaching a hand up to tenderly stroke the living angel's cheek, she looked deep into Grora's eye and removed her eyepatch with the other hand. It may not have been the best way of going about it, but at least Robin tried her best to soothe her friend's spirits. _"You've made poor decisions, Grora, choices you couldn't take back in the end. At best you could only see to it that you made the attempt to apologize for those choices, knowing forgiveness was difficult to acquire because that decision was up to those affected negatively by your negative actions. They've had three options: forgiving you; not forgiving you, but overlooking the offenses; and not forgiving you without overlooking the offences. Some may have chosen to forgive, others not despite letting you have another chance. Yet in the long run, nobody chose the third option; some went with their second choice, but gradually began to change their minds and pick the first. They had it, but would not take it because it would've only led to more pain and conflict. That's why they didn't take it."_

"I know, but…Ater and Arbus never knew until Aleista showed them…"

" _Give them time and space to adjust to the reality of that dilemma. Let them be, Grora, for they must make their decision by choosing one of those three options I just went over with you."_

"Sure…" Grora murmured, gently turning her head around while putting the eyepatch back on. The smile she usually had on her face wouldn't come back. "That's all I can really do now…"

" _I'm afraid so…"_ Robin commented, thinking of something she could say to cheer her up. The only idea that came to mind was her own death due to Project Dynol Peiriant and Germain. A morbidly mournful thought, but an idea nonetheless. She smiled at Grora after taking a deep breath, prepared to implement it. _"If it makes you feel better, Grora, know that although you might've had a hand in my death, it was not by your hand that I died. It was because of the demon I encountered and Germain that I met my own end at the very end of my path. You were one of the links I've held close to my heart in life, and I still keep a firm grip on it in death."_ When Grora didn't say anything in response, Robin looked away and tipped her head down in shame. _"I-I'm s-sorry, I-I didn't—"_

"It's okay…I forgive you…" Grora interjected softly, "but thank you anyway…"

" _Your welcome, Grora…"_ Robin sighed, figuring she should've changed the subject since this current one was upsetting them both. _"Anyway, moving on, what became of the meeting Kcalb and Wodahs attended with Fumus? Have Aleista and Soa declared some kind of war or something against the Gray Garden?"_ she asked, wondering what happened with that. She had been watching over Grora for the past several days, so she was too busy taking care of her to look into that.

"They're neutral, alright," the living angelic lady began to explain. "They'll probably chose to reside in our world permanently and protect it from other Great Elders, ones that aren't as good and friendly as M'nellkor, while making deals with the inhabitants. Aleista's gone elsewhere from what I heard, traveling elsewhere to retrieve their Third Liaison. Only Soa and M'nellkor are here; I can only hope he'll restrain her if she tries anything funny or dangerous against us. We've got an assurance from them about their perspective of our world and their intentions too, but that isn't all. After Aleista departed, Soa informed them that they've gone to the Sun Heaven and dealt with the Sun God; Siralos isn't dead because they didn't kill him, though they did murder a bunch of crucial individuals under him. It was retaliation for what that squad of sun angels did when his first try to invade failed. They even showed him to M'nellkor and broke his mind by letting him see him."

" _So Siralos was already taken care of. But then why is the war still necessary?"_

"It's exactly as we've said, Robin: it is what it is, just as it always is. Siralos has to be tried and punished for his actions. Everybody, even Fumus knows since he received permission directly from M'nellkor through Soa that he can allow his people to know about them and Aleista. He was told he could relate the information to his army, and now our own military knows too."

" _You're both just going to invade while the Sun God's down and out, so to speak?"_

"Yep, it'll be an easy victory because we won't have to deal with Siralos. His daughter on the other hand, Igls Unth, will still be a problem if we encounter her. According to Justim's angels from an embassy he had in the Sun Heaven, a civil war had begun there with three different parties vying for power. She must be one of them, and I bet Hastur will be one too. Justim couldn't place his own people in danger, so he had ordered for them to bail when the civil war began at first."

" _Why's there a civil war?"_ Robin inquired, wondering what happened over there.

"Beats me to be honest, but Justim said his angels claimed Siralos was incapacitated in his mind and that Hastur revealed his condition to the Sun Heaven. Igls Unth supported her father and he didn't, finding support from many angels among the chaos. The third side consists of civilians, angels who wanted to retain their religious values and customs while abandoning Siralos."

" _I can only imagine how that'll affect the mortal plane in his world. The humans there may likely be affected by the catastrophe their heaven is experiencing. They might cause a schism."_

Grora shrugged, shutting her eye. "Whatever, it doesn't really matter to me. How they work with humans in their world is up to them since it's their business. I mean, I do care about them and how they're affected, but I can't do anything about it. The humans in our world all died due to our war, and many of them became angels while others became demons. Lady Etihw didn't create any more humans with her magic, so we just left things the way they had become and made peace. It's been as simple as that, and I wouldn't have it any other way. At least that's my opinion on this."

" _Well, then let's discuss what would happen if Igls Unth were to become a Goddess,"_ came an idea from her friend. _"If Siralos is unable to govern his world as its God, she would be in a firm position to acquire the role if her party was to follow a monarchial dynastic philosophy. However, considering the religious values of her world as Lady Etihw said once around the time of Ater's betrayal, the rite of passage would need to be followed. If selected by the sun, she's a Goddess."_

"Pretty much; she's already in a position to take it without that rite of passage," Grora said.

" _And we already know Hastur would want to become the God of Existence."_

"He'll fail because he's involved in a three-way civil war; he can't fight off two opponents on one or two fronts and two more another. Sure, he might utilize spies to pit his opposition in the civil war against one another, but he still can't take on Fumus and Sir Devil. Hell, if Ivlis somehow joins in on our side, it'll be much harder for him to secure victory for his goals. I doubt Ivlis would not be unaware of what could be going on over in his world's heaven since I'm sure he would have sensed the chaos. All we have to do is make sure he's on our side and try to enlist Igls Unth too."

" _Long story short,"_ Robin began to deduce from her friend's line of thinking, _"you've got plans to form a massive square around Hastur; a pentagon if you get the third side in the civil war to join in. If Igls Unth hasn't already tried to establish a truce with them—and I'm sure they would make one since they share a common foe and values they could discuss and come to an agreement on—or if she has, you've essentially acquired enough allies and their forces to outnumber Hastur and his forces. That's quite a clever plan, Grora, though what if he eliminates both enemy parties."_

"Then we've still got Fumus, and Ivlis if he sides with us. I think he will since he hates the God of his world, thereby uniting us against Siralos. It might not be enough allies, but we're more than capable of dealing with Hastur. That much is certain, but I don't know about the portal though, because any one of the parties in that civil war could be coming through. We can still hammer the enemy force in from all sides regardless of who's leading them, though I can definitely bet it would not be Siralos due to his mental incapacitation. Igls Unth probably wouldn't either since she'll not have time to focus on us, leading to one possible suspect since the party wishing to abandon Siralos will be contending with Igls Unth:" Grora finished her explanation and turned to Robin, "Hastur."

" _Do you think Hastur might've captured Siralos?"_

"Possibly, though we'll still be prepared either way," Grora replied. "He'll be trapped with no way out of the portal except for the retreat back. We can follow him and pick off his forces one by one if they don't overpower our own at the portal. We've already got an entire army at the ready to deal with whoever comes through it, even if it isn't him. Hopefully we can handle the enemies, however many there are of them." Although that was easier said than done, she realized the 'done' part was going to be difficult achieving depending on how many soldiers were invading their world a second time. The sun angels may have been persistent, but they could've also been foolish. Still, they were a threat that had to be taken care of in order to ensure they wouldn't threaten anyone. A positively optimistic desire, but one not without its hurdles, however large or small they were.

…

 **The final chapters of** _Atonement_ **are coming, just as the imminent war against the Sun Heaven is. The main players are moving into their positions, but events have yet to unfold.**

 **There are a couple of tidbits I just want to point out regarding some of the content in this chapter. First, Leihsuk's name is backwards for 'Kushiel', the angel of Judeo-Christian folklore who is known as the Rigid One of God because he punishes people in Hell. According to some Hebrew accounts of him, Kushiel is one of the seven angels of punishment and utilizes a fire whip to punish nations while residing in the Third Heaven. That bit about the Third Heaven was mentioned in the Second Book of Enoch, and you can find this out on Wikipedia.**

 **With regards to Ivlis' passion for scholarly pursuits, I think that could be a very good aspect of his character because we know Siralos created him with Ivlis' eyes open. This might imply that Ivlis would be open to exploration and intellectual pursuits because he might take in information better as he can see things his peers among the sun angels couldn't since they were blindly obedient to Siralos. Their closed eyes symbolize this faith in the Sun God; even so, the fact they don't open their eyes could indicate their faith in him is blind, meaning they can't see beyond what Siralos advocates. The fact Ivlis' eyes were open meant he could think and ponder on things that caught his attention and interest, leading him to pose questions as well as theories on certain subjects. This would've contributed to his fall while asking Siralos about what he had to do regarding what he knew about their faith, religion, and the light. It was also a matter of wondering who the light might've belonged to and who should've had a chance to bask in it too. Though Ivlis had become tainted by his rage towards Siralos, leading him to become consumed by vengeance, I believe he certainly once was—and still could be—an individual who is worthy of receiving good character development, canon or non-canon.**

 **With this in mind, I think the divide between Siralos and Ivlis could be an allusion to the Renaissance and Enlightenment, historical periods when intellectuals developed sciences to explain natural phenomena. The Church didn't approve of their work because their work questioned religion, drawing attention via the logical explanations that shed light on subjects the Church claimed could only be understood through religion. I believe this could be a case for this allusion because of the characters' eyes: Ivlis' open eyes; Igls Unth's closed eyes; and Siralos' open eyes. Siralos is the Sun God, the omnipotent figure of the Land of the Sun who could do anything in his power as a God, so he can come up with ideas and make them so as he doesn't have opposition from those who believe in him. Igls Unth believes in him as do the other sun angels, though their eyes are closed which may indicate they prefer religion over a collection of sciences they want to ignore because of their firm beliefs. As I've said earlier, it is also interesting to note how their closed eyes could also symbolize blind faith which is blind because they won't acknowledge the sciences as real proofs, thus contributing to this theory. Ivlis' eyes are open, and as I've also said, he would be open to things of interest to him. Things like natural truths might not be explained by religion, so he'd have to investigate such notions by asking questions and posing theories. This conflicts with religion, the ideas Siralos makes and advocates for, leading to Ivlis' fall; thus being an allusion to the aforementioned periods of history mentioned earlier. I might be wrong, but it is interesting food for thought.**


	26. Chapter Twenty-Six: The Invasion

Her arms were crossed and she was shivering, feeling the tension within the air. They were all feeling it too, prepared to defend the Gray Garden from yet another invasion. Looking up at her peers all the way in front from where she was sitting, Grora estimated about three thousand troops were in the field—technically the sky above the castle. Kcalb led the front, bottom left regiment a good distance by Etihw and Wodahs of their triangular defense. In the center were mages alongside many spellswords like Mitchell who would protect said mages from harm. The portal would open soon, and with its entrance were the opponents on the other side of the door, the sun angels coming to attack them yet again. They were not led by Siralos this time, and Grora had relayed her theories to her superiors so they could be mindful of the threat Hastur posed. They were ready to face him.

However, unlike her comrades who were fully prepared to face this threat without fear, the uncertainty within a very different fear was killing Grora from within. She had not seen the kitties, Ater and Arbus, figuring they must've been with the safe houses established throughout the region. Hopefully they and the citizens under protection from skilled fighters like Rorin would be safe and that the sun angels wouldn't be able to get that far anyway. Even if this place was damaged, Etihw and Kcalb could use their magic to repair destruction back to the way things were, good as new. It should've been fine, yet the angelic archer couldn't shake her anxiety because something could've gone wrong, something could've happened to turn the tables out of their favor so the enemy would win. It was just a feeling, an unpleasant one that terrified Grora because she hadn't come to terms yet with her past actions—at least as far as the cat demons were involved since they were still mad.

Looking down at her arms, she felt her eye tremble at the memories coming back to her as she raised her hands. Grora saw the figurative blood that used to be the literal blood, blood from a variety of victims who'd fallen to her in True Light. She killed a lot of angels and demons then, an offense that was hard to punish in this world because the belief in traditional values she and others shared—namely the conflict between angels and demons—was understandable, but punishable all the same. It was especially light when she confessed and the truth of Hastur's deception was shown and revealed, for they understood she was used as a tool, a tool to commit murder for his own sake. That was why charging her was difficult, and she got off with a relatively fair sentence which she now regretted accepting despite having given in to the arguments presented in favor of the sentence because now it felt like the weight of her guilt had come back to bite her in the ass. Grora believed she hadn't been punished well, but didn't know what to do about it now as she felt lost and scared.

There were several options available to her. She could've apologized while hoping the two cat demons would pick either one of those first two options Robin presented to her. Grora could've also avoided them, letting them have the space they needed so neither she nor they would associate with each other ever again. The angelic woman also thought about breaking into one of the decrepit dungeons from the war, becoming a voluntary prisoner to make it her prison and eventual tomb. It was also possible for her to simply leave the Gray Garden via self-exile in search of another world where she could live the rest of her life in shame and continue to live as such for eternity. A much more mournfully morbid option would be what Ater tried to accomplish to see her parents: suicide.

That last notion was one Grora imagined herself doing at times ever since they learned she had been their parents' killer in spite of Grora's initial suspicions about it. Although that might've brought the cat demons justice, Grora was afraid to go through with it just as she was afraid of the other options too. She trembled fearfully, breathing deeply to try and steady her nerves before this upcoming fight. She had to be ready to face down any threats that might've broken through all the soldiers in front from her position in the back. As an archer, Grora was placed in the village proper ready to defend it with her scimitars and arrows, making her a good defensive fighter at long range and close range. That was why she'd been selected to help lead the forces on the ground with their ballista weaponry and trebuchets too. Alongside Othros, who'd be giving the units operating them instructions and coordinates on where to aim, and Lenny, who'd be fighting with them while within a position to advance to the frontlines to shadow the sun angels if they fled, Grora felt the strategy they were implementing would work even if her guilt greatly wore her down.

"F-focus…" she murmured quietly to herself, shutting her eye and breathing heavily in an attempt to calm herself so she could be an effective soldier. "E-everything will be fine…" She had hoped everything would be alright. Decked out in her Mithril armor without the helmet, Grora had prepared herself as well as she could for this defensive battle. Everything was hinged on defensive maneuvers, and they couldn't be surprised by anything because they'd expect anything from within the portal. It was rippling, on the verge of opening at any moment now. Seated on a bench in Apple Park while watching it, the angel averted her attention to watch it ripple. "I-I just need to focus…"

"We all do, Grora," came Lenny's remark to cheer her up as he tossed her an apple to snack on while they waited. Watching Othros direct the old weapons used during the war, the former sun angel admired the look of their updated appearance. In light of the fact they still operated with the same mechanisms, each one of those individual parts was replaced and outfitted with a brand new set of modern gears. He was quite impressed with Othros' knowledge of such machines and came to learn that the bat demon was quite precise in his calculations. He was an intelligent tactician, an amazing strategist with a wide range of contacts throughout the world. With Othros' help, the Gray Garden managed to send more than enough troops to this region to defend it from the sun angels.

"That's a true statement," Grora commented, agreeing with him. "Thanks for the apple."

"No problem," the other angel displayed a small smile to cheer her up. "No use fighting on an empty stomach. Back in the Sun Heaven, we were always told to eat a hearty meal to give us a good amount of energy for the bout. We'd fast at breakfast and fill our bellies with healthy meals. The nutritional sustenance was quite a boon in times of conflict, for our superiors always said that an empty stomach contributed to an empty mind. The mind could get distracted by hunger and the issue of a lack of energy was considered to be quite a problem for anybody who hadn't eaten."

"Just as a prepared military is usually the victor, especially when it's more prepared than a force opposing it," the angelic lady went on, the conversation providing her with some comfort by distracting her from the other concerns plaguing her. "Our foes could be prepared, but we have got a good advantage on them. That may change, but we've still got hope this will all end well soon."

"Hope is good, yet effort is better if you ask me since contributing it can make hope appear possible. After all, hope needs something to serve as a foundation for it to be valid. A miracle can help, though those are rare and need to be ushered in by effort. Effort is a crucial key to this matter."

"It always is," Grora agreed, thinking about asking him a few things while he was here.

He caught a glimpse of her staring somberly at him and turned to face her. "What's up?"

"How'd it feel," she asked, putting forth some questions, "turning against a heaven you've been a part of for so long? Did you feel remorse over the decision? Did you regret a decision like the one you made? Are there any places and people you miss? Surely it must've pained you."

Lenny frowned, shutting his eyes as he pondered a way to speak about it. He hadn't spoken about his treason that much, believing it was better to focus on the future than dwell on issues and other matters that might've upset him with the remorse Grora alluded to. Yet she wasn't inquiring about this because she wanted to; she might've, if it was to check up on him which he appreciated. No, the real motive for this conversation was possibly acquiring advice on how to deal with issues she herself was facing, namely a problem that's been the talk of the town for a while—besides the war, of course. Grora had done a lot of bad things in her past; killing the cat demons' parents back then was one of them. Although leaving the Sun Heaven behind wasn't relevant to her situation as it was a different matter entirely, Lenny thought he'd indulge the archer to offer whatever comfort he could provide. "I thought about that for a short while after I opened my eyes, so to speak. You're right that my choice has made me feel remorse for abandoning the religious culture and my family and friends there. I wish something could be done to save them before my heaven falls from grace, hence why I'm helping to save it from itself. Although I do have my regrets, I made a decision and I intend to stand by it so I can accomplish that goal. So yes, while it has caused me some pain and also grief, I made the right choice if that's what you're going to ask me next. Does that help?"

"A little, thanks," Grora thanked him again.

"I don't know about specific locations, though; my eyes were never open. I imagined what the Sun Heaven looked like based on the description that was going around as related by our God. His word was law, and he had the power to determine how our religion functioned in society."

"I guess coming with us means you'd get to see the place with your eyes open," the angelic lady surmised, wondering what the place was really like herself since she was curious about it.

"Pretty much, yeah, though I'll be serving as a spy for Kcalb and Wodahs when we invade the Sun Heaven. I'm to head back with the sun angels if they go back through the portal and gather information on how affairs are going while reporting back. That's if I can make it into the portal," Lenny explained, informing her on the role he was going to play. "I can't go to the frontlines since I'd likely be sensed by my former comrades, some of whom may know me personally. They would figure out I betrayed them and sided with this world which is quite true. If I cannot make it through, it'll be alright since we'll be moving out soon afterwards to meet up with Fumus or get a bit ahead of him to clear out any areas to establish a main camp for our armies to reside at during the war."

"You think you got what it takes to handle yourself without getting caught?"

"I am a paladin, yes," he nodded, acknowledging her concern. "I'm not a rogue or thief, or even an assassin for that matter. Still, it's my home and I am quite familiar with it. So is Etihw, as she's been there before whenever she had to attend a coronation ceremony from what she told me. Unfortunately, she wouldn't make for a decent spy in this case since she'll be sensed easily. She's not exactly an angel anymore, and her presence and aura as a Goddess would give her away."

"Just like when she runs away from work," Grora commented blandly, hearing the portal's final sounds before it opened completely. "Looks like your old comrades made it just in time to be pushed back." Standing up, the archer held a hand above her eye to shade it from the sun because she wanted to see who was coming out. The portal was strangely empty for some reason, unnerving her since she felt the sun angels had come up with some kind of plan to catch them unaware. That didn't make sense because those sun angels usually charged into the fray as noble soldiers fighting honorably even if that notion itself was foolish on their part if they didn't have a plan. They weren't guerilla fighters, they were soldiers without any sort of dishonorable weapons or spells within their repertoire. An invisibility spell was included in that, and so were teleportation spells too that could have transported them to various positions around the main army here to ensnare everyone within a trap. "Huh? That's odd…I don't see anyone…" she murmured, than spotted a lone figure coming.

The regiments under Kcalb, Etihw, and Wodahs all braced themselves for what this solitary individual from the Sun Heaven planned to do. Watching him come forward, they noted the attire indicating he was a priest. His golden white robes with a golden cross on them signified he must've been a member of a church sector, and he only had a small tuft of hair tied into a ponytail. Yet that bit of hair on his balding head contrasted with the flowing white beard draping down to his waist. His eyes were open, brilliant blue irises gazing upon the people before him as he momentarily shut his eyes and raised a fist to his mouth as a means of clearing his throat. In his hand was a staff with an orange orb held in place by four rods, three halos floating around it just like one above his head. Opening his eyes, the lone man addressed the throng of troops before him. "HEAR ME, PEOPLE OF THE GRAY GARDEN! I COME BEFORE YOU AS A MESSENGER OF A NEW DIVINE, A CELESTIAL HERO WHO SHALL SOON USHER IN TRUE PEACE AND TRUE LIGHT!"

Grora scowled, recognizing who this preacher spoke on behalf of. Hastur obviously forced a single priest into their world to deliver a bloody monologue. He had caused her much pain in the past by making her do horrible, terrible things in True Light. Hastur tried to destroy their world as an unsatisfied henchman of Siralos, and now he was doing it again on his own terms instead of the Sun God's. The man definitely seemed to come to power during that civil war, and wielded it like a true tyrant if Grora guessed correctly on that notion. Knowing him, Hastur was being a tyrant. A bad one at any rate, though she'd contribute to changing that. Ending his life could've ended all of the grief she felt, or it might've alleviated some of it. After all, killing him because he gave her the order to kill the parents of Ater and Arbus would've definitely contributed to giving them justice.

"That's a warp staff," Lenny remarked, recognizing the staff. "A powerful one very capable of teleporting up to around four hundred people at a time. If I'm not mistaken, that one could make a shield around the caster so he can keep summoning more soldiers into this world."

"Already on it; the orb might be fragile. If it's that powerful, it might shatter after one use," Grora theorized, pulling an arrow out of her quiver and nocking it in the string of her bow. "That's if my aim's good. I only need to hit it once and it should crack just enough for it to fail at that use." Aiming for the staff itself, she adjusted the position of her bow and measured the distance she had to take into account. That priest was yards away in the sky, and gravity could've taken its toll since the arrow would've fallen back to the ground. "Almost there…I just need to line this up right," she said, making the calculations in her brain as fast as she could before the priest made his first move.

"MY NAME IS KURST, AND I SHALL PREACH TO YOU THE FINE MEANING OF THE TRUE LIGHT, FOR IT IS BRIGHTER THAN THE DARKNESS YOU ALL LIVE IN AND SHALL PERISH IN! OUR MIGHTY LORD, HASTUR, SHALL SOON USHER IN THE TRUE LIGHT, AND YOU ALL SHALL KNOW PAIN AND SUFFERING UNDER TORMENT AND TORTURE, BOTH OF WHICH WE SHALL INFLICT UPON YOU ALL AT ONCE TODAY!"

"Got it." Finalizing those calculations, Grora shot her arrow into the sky and watched it as the deadly attack zipped right for the orb in the staff. It cracked immediately, nearly breaking from the force of that critical blow dealt to it. "Now he can only summon those four hundred once." She took a deep breath, observing the priest with his staff in front of his face. The angelic lady was not in the mood to hear him rant when she had her own problems to deal with, for this was just making them worse. Thankfully she was glad to try relieving stress in this battle. Some comrades might've felt the same too. Yet the foes were outmatched by the Gray Garden's Goddess and Devil.

Lenny smiled. "Nice shot, Grora."

"Thanks," she replied.

Kurst simply stared at his staff, beads of perspiration appearing on his temple. Averting his attention to the Gray Garden's army and back to the warp staff, he swallowed heavily as he became nervous. He hadn't even summoned his comrades into this world yet, knowing the poor condition of this staff meant he could only use it once before it shattered completely. Recovering a bit of his composure because he was also aware of the fact the shield would be permanent, he held it aloft a bit and sighed. "That wasn't supposed to happen, but oh well. They are a tough crowd nonetheless, I shouldn't expect any less of them." Clearing his throat again, Kurst wasted the only usage left in the warp staff to summon three hundred eighty-eight sun angels to levitate right beside him. Their presence looked breathtaking solely because their wings glowed in the sunlight, but that was about it for their appearance while Kurst began preaching again as the shield formed. None of the soldiers in the Gray Garden's military bothered to listen, though, choosing to ignore him as Kcalb turned his head to nod at Etihw and Wodahs before addressing an angel in his own regiment.

"I sense eleven other angels were sent elsewhere. Notify the safe houses in case those other angels are attempting to perform sneak attacks on them," he instructed her, motioning to Mitchell's unit so the mages and other spellswords could prepare their massive weapon disintegration spell.

"YOU ARE FOOLS TO THINK YOU OUTNUMBER US! NUMBERS DO NOT MEAN ANYTHING FOR OUR VICTORY IS AND WAS ALWAYS AT HAND! PREDESTINED THIS WAS, FOR WE ARE THE SUPERIOR FORCE IN EVERY ASPECT WHILE YOU ARE JUST INFERIOR AND RIGHTLY SO! THAT IS OUR JUSTIFICATION FOR SLAYING YOU!"

"Oh, end it already," the monkey demon spellsword sighed out a retort while his unit fired the spell, blanketing the opposing force with it. The weapons wielded by all the sun angel paladins, clerics, and priests all began to disintegrate and break away into pieces. They stared at their broken weapons, watching them shatter as Etihw cast an area of effect paralysis spell on well over a large portion of the sun angels. Unable to move, those who were affected simply fell to the ground only to be caught by soldiers down there who had prepared a soft net for them to land in. Unfortunately, it also served as a temporary prison for them as well. Those who hadn't been struck by it watched their fallen brethren in shock, averting their attention to and from them to the Gray Garden's army. Within seconds cries of a panicked retreat sounded off as the remaining sun angels—fifty-eight of them in fact, except for their fifty-ninth, Kurst—all turned to flee in terror, realizing they officially lost this battle before it even began. As unfair as it might've been, they still lost regardless of that.

"Wait!" Kurst called out them, angered over the defeat and treasonous fear of his regiment and surprised to find they were already withdrawing. "We haven't lost yet! We haven't even gotten in a chance to fight! This was an unfair victory for them, but we can still defeat them here and now because we are the pure, purest of pure angels! They are nothing more than wasteful garbage!"

"I guess that's my cue," Lenny remarked, beginning to fly up into the sky after the enemies began to retreat. "Wish me luck and I hope to see everyone else on the other side soon as possible."

"You can't leave yet, we haven't begun to slaughter them! Lord Hastur is counting on this victory! It will serve as both his victory and ours! We must distract them for him! We must—"

"You must what?" Kcalb inquired, flying up to him and startling the priest when he spoke. Several other angelic and demonic soldiers in his own regiment followed him, and soon Kurst was trapped between them. His misfortune was the fact he couldn't move from his position; the shield prevented him from leaving it, and it also kept him within it. In short, he trapped himself well. "A shame your leader doesn't seem to be coming to your aid yet. Where is Hastur anyway? Back with the rest of his forces in the Sun Heaven, or already here?" the Devil inquired, interrogating Kurst.

"I-I'll not say, I-I'll not speak!" the priest shouted. "This shield is my protection! You—"

"And your trap, I should add," Kcalb definitely added, merely reaching his arm forward to flick a single finger at the shield. It was destroyed instantaneously. "Must I repeat myself?" Seeing that Kurst was in shock before his facial expression changed to anger, the Devil immediately held a hand up to seize the priest's fist when Kurst tried to punch him and failed. "Guess not." With a single finger again, he paralyzed the priest and let him fall into the net as Lenny flew by him.

"See you soon!" the former sun angel remarked with a brief salute before disappearing into the portal. Kcalb smiled back at him, thankful for the gesture which he addressed by nodding.

"Yep, we hope to hear from you, Lenny!" he called after him before turning to address the soldiers. "Well, that was a rather lackluster battle, if I do say so myself! Yet it has also taught quite a valuable lesson: never monologue directly before combat when facing one's foes! Otherwise you shall end up in the same position as our foes from the Sun Heaven! Get some rest, for we will soon join our friends from the Corporate Heaven once we've received word they are ready to go!"

Watching her comrades cheer from where she was standing in Apple Park, Grora just shut her eye and sighed while stuffing her hands in the pockets of her Mithril armor. She wanted to try focusing on this battle for more time to think about how she'd apologize to the cat demons, though the angelic woman was disappointed it had to end that fast. Grora was grateful the fight was already over prior to its beginning because of those foolish sun angels, yet it ended too quickly for her. An intense battle between them would've helped her focus if she wasn't bogged down by guilt, though she thought otherwise the moment she turned to walk away. The guilt would've most likely caused her to be distracted during the battle anyway, for each opponent she probably would've slain would have served as a painful reminder of her past, especially the murder of the kitties' parents. A double edged sword this battle would've proven to be, so maybe it was a good thing it had ended quickly. Thankfully it did with her and the other troops receiving extra time to rest. "Perhaps I'll just go to check up on them…" she murmured quietly to nobody in particular and began to fly elsewhere.

…

She sniffed sadly, tears drenching her sleeves as she grasped her legs while holding them close to her chest. Her face was buried in her arms with her trembling body shuddering due to the chilly wind, her fear, and also the sadness. All of these things contributed to her timid state, though they did not cause the deep-seated depression and terror afflicting her. What did was the terrifying truth of what she and Arbus saw together when Aleista showed them the final moments taken away from their parents by Grora. Grora killed them, and Ater couldn't forget it because of how vivid it was, how the angel shot them with arrows to end their lives forever. Then it was over, the image's purpose having been fulfilled; Aleista stopped playing it for them, yet it continued nonetheless due to the imprint it impressed upon their minds. They could see it happening over and over again, the sight replaying itself in their minds. Even keeping their eyes open didn't stop it from showing them what happened, and closing them didn't work either for the same reason. It was on an endless loop.

Ater lifted her head and looked at the spot from where she was sitting against a tree within the shade. There was a clearing ahead of her by a cliff leading down to a river. Both of the territorial elements were quite familiar to her, for she was seated at the very space Grora killed their parents at. Her arrows sticking out of their corpses after she turned them into pincushions…their fall from the cliff into the frigid river below…Ater could remember each and every single detail of the whole experience. But 'experience' was the wrong word; 'horror' was a better one in this case since that word denoted the very horror she and Arbus should've been able to feel back then, but couldn't as they didn't know. Now they did, and that horror finally caught up to them after so many years. An awful lot of torture in that regard was endured by them since they were strong, yet Ater caved first. Then again, maybe Arbus was the first to cave. Perhaps it was both of them together as twin sisters.

It mattered because they were twins who had experienced that together with Aleista's help. They needed to know the truth, and the lich demon showed it to them, albeit not without whatever consequences it caused. For one thing, they discovered their parents were murdered. Ater believed it was a possibility and so had Arbus, yet the revelation was still chilling all the same. The reason was because of Grora. She was the killer; Ater couldn't believe that, though Arbus did. The black haired feline later relayed to her the tale Grora told her, that she admitted it even though neither of them made the connection at the time—nobody had, contributing to the issue. That not only scared them because it seemed like none of the inhabitants in this world were really that smart, but it also made them upset and angry—well, in Arbus' case—for that same reason because nobody knew.

When her black haired twin sister had heard several other people besides Grora knew about her past, Arbus got angry with them despite calming down initially. She was frustrated, and so was Ater. They both were which was understandable given their situation. Neither of them were getting justice for their parents' deaths with Grora being let off with not even a slap on the wrist. Although Kcalb had told them Grora was sorry about what she'd done, she had already fulfilled the sentence she received after she confessed her sins and revealed the existence of True Light. That punishment covered all of her victims whom she prayed had passed on peacefully during the transition into the afterlife. Others could've forgiven her, but not the cat demons because they didn't know until they looked to Aleista for aid. Having only just found out about that recently, they didn't know how to feel about the information pertaining to their parents' deaths. The incident left them in utter shock.

Ater sniffed again, burying her head in her arms again. "M-mama…P-papa…" she wept as she continued to cry. She knew this spot well due to what she and Arbus learned, and it was why she left the safe house unattended and unsupervised. Why one was here was completely unknown to her, though the white haired cat demon figured it was by chance because this location had been established before they learned about their parents. Perhaps it was luck since they would have been quite close to the safe house which wasn't too far away so they could visit this space if need be.

"Ater…"

Ater looked up to her left tearfully upon hearing a familiar voice beside her. "Arbus…"

Her twin sister made eye contact sadly prior to averting her attention away. Arbus had her attention on the spot for a few moments, speaking to address her sister. "You miss them too." Her remark was rhetorical, for she knew exactly how Ater felt. "So do I, Ater, so do I. We miss them."

"We miss them together…" Ater murmured quietly, moving over so her sister could claim a seat beside her under the shade. She swallowed heavily, wondering if she should've apologized. It was her fault for hammering the point they needed to learn about their parents across even if her twin took the blame for not trying. Feeling Arbus sit down by brushing up against her, she breathed deeply and decided to put her apology out there because she felt guilty for the fight they had. "I'm sorry, Arbus…we fought because of me…I was so desperate to learn about them…I thought you'd change your mind if I fulfilled the deal." Arbus watched Ater apologize by beating herself up. "It's been all my fault, Arbus, because I believed we could've learned the truth that way. I forced you…"

"You tried to force me, yes," Arbus agreed, wrapping both arms around her twin to embrace her in a hug as a means of comforting Ater, "but I was wrong for not understanding how you felt." Pressing her cheek up against her sister's, she allowed the other's comforting presence to envelop her. "I only wanted you to be happy with your life, but thought you discarded happiness for truths that could've harmed us with whatever pain they might've caused. Yet I was wrong because I was a coward for not pursuing those truths despite accepting them. I suppose I had never really accepted them in the end until we learned what happened. You're brave because you made the effort while acknowledging the facts as possible truths whereas I had not. We've been over this before, Ater."

"But I was scared of what we might've learned…"

"Yet you trudged on regardless; I didn't until I realized how much it meant to you…to us." Here Arbus pulled her head back to look at Ater, taking her white haired sibling's head to turn the other towards her. "You may have done something bad to try and fulfill that deal, but I don't give a damn about that anymore. You're my twin sister and I love you; I'll always be by your side."

"Arbus…" Ater murmured tearfully, on the verge of weeping over how much trouble she'd been because of that deal. She had worried everybody who cared about her, and she thought they'd been mad with her because of what she'd done. Hearing her twin sister apologize for the fight they had made it seem like Arbus was in the wrong, that the black haired cat demon was at fault. While she appreciated her apology, Ater couldn't help but feel guilty because of what she'd put her sister through. "I-I'm s-sorry, I-I…" she tried to speak, but her voice died out since she couldn't continue.

"It's okay," Arbus reassured her, giving Ater another hug. "I forgive you; it'll be alright."

"A-Arbus…"

Her sister pulled away, smiling at her warmly with her eyes closed briefly. "We can spend as much time as we want here, Ater, but we should go back for now. Everyone at the safe house is probably worried about us. The invasion has probably begun by now, so we should get to safety." She stood up, reaching her arm out to give Ater her hand. The white haired feline hesitated at first because of her guilt, believing she wasn't worthy of Arbus' kindness Nonetheless she reached out a shaky hand to take it so Arbus could help her up. Getting to her feet, Ater looked in her eyes and saw the warmness present in the other's gaze. Contrary to how Arbus felt, she was still terrified of her own actions and of Grora too because of how angry the angel must've been with them.

She'd given Grora plenty of justification to be angry them while fearing the consequences of the angel's wrath. Although Grora might have killed their parents, she'd accidently gouged her eye out. In light of the fact the eye was a lesser offense than their parents' murder, Ater knew that Grora must've had a very good reason for killing them despite her fear of the angelic archer. That was why she couldn't stay angry at Grora…she could only fear her as the angel kept harming them.

Somehow Arbus knew what was on her sister's mind and frowned, raising a hand to stroke Ater's face. "Do not worry about Grora, Ater. If she bothers us anymore, I will kill her." Her voice was firm, yet gentle despite the conviction in that threat towards the angelic archer. The tone might have sounded level and calm, though the amount of poisonous anger was seething through her tone and eyes. It scared Ater how angry her sister was, but she didn't know how to calm her. "What she did to us…what she took from us…I—no, we will make her pay for everything." Noticing that her sister appeared to be reluctant about that, hesitating out of fear, Arbus decided to cut her slack. "If you can't bring yourself to do it, I understand. Just let me take care of it for us. You don't—"

"B-but what if she retaliates?" Ater inquired, worried about what would happen if her twin went through with that notion. "W-we could get in trouble, Arbus! W-we might cause a civil war!"

"It was she who started it first, Ater," Arbus raised a counterargument to that point. "It was her fault for joining that damn organization to try and uphold the war between our people. We had nothing to do with it, and they certainly weren't right because what they did was wrong. She drew us into her mess when she killed our parents, but she hasn't been charged for crimes she committed back then. Is that fair to those who lost cherished loved ones like us? Is it fair for her to get away?"

"N-no, b-but…"

"Was it fair for our parents to die at Grora's hands for not even being involved in that?"

Ater stared at the ground in shame, tipping it down as she sniffed somberly. "N-no…"

"You've seen their final moments with me, Ater, you know they only wanted a world they could seek sanctuary in after fleeing from the Flower World due to the God there," Arbus explained to her sister, knowing the white haired sibling also heard their parents' thoughts too just prior to a certain angel killing them. Those thoughts were included with the final moments the lich demon's ritual had shown them. "All they wanted was to live here peacefully, but Grora made it their plot."

"I-I know, b-but…"

"She cannot be allowed to get away with it, Ater. Lady Etihw and Lord Kcalb won't allow us to kill her, but I don't care. They won't charge her fairly by being lenient with her, so we could take the justice we were denied. And if it were to lead to civil war, we can leave the Gray Garden. I can understand if you don't want to, and I'm fine with that. Just don't forget about me if I end up doing it myself, and I'll be sure to let you know where I am after I leave so you can visit me."

"B-but it's wrong, Arbus! We mustn't do that! I can't bear to be apart from you again!"

Arbus sighed, knowing Ater may have had a point. "You don't want us to be monsters like Grora, do you? You'd rather we not stoop to her level? Perhaps you are right, but then what if the deed is done? Even were it to be by our hands, we would not be as bad as her; we wouldn't be the monsters as we were merely putting one down for good—permanently. Someone else could do it, somebody may take pity on our plight and fulfill what we might not be able to do ourselves, Ater."

"I-I…I-I…" Ater couldn't argue further. She didn't know what else to say to stop her twin from thinking about this idea. The poor girl feared her sister was going down a dark path and didn't care about the consequences so long as their revenge was achieved. Yet Ater was really speechless.

"Come on, let's go," Arbus said and turned to lead Ater back to the safe house. "We could talk about this later, sis. Right now we need to get to safety before the sun angels come here. They might attack us if given the chance in the event they've already managed to get through the defense established back in Gray Village and Blancblack Castle." Taking Ater's hand into her own, Arbus averted her attention back to the path she took to reach this area where she found her twin sister…

"Going somewhere, _demons_?"

"W-wha—?!" Before suddenly whirling around upon hearing a voice addressing them both with menacing venom applied to the tone. Their eyes widened at the sight of eleven angels behind them, standing directly in the spot where Grora murdered the cat demons' parents a little over one century ago. Ten of them had orange wings tinged with sunlight, power from the sun flowing into their wings as they all stood with their weapons drawn. Among them were two priests, two clerics, and six paladins; all of them were respectively armed with healing staves, maces and bucklers that had a protective ward around the edges, and sun swords and tower shields. They were sun angels, a squad that had somehow escaped the conflict back at the portal and came here. They might have planned to attack the safe house near here with guerilla tactics as indicated by the fact they've been outnumbered in that regard. At least forty troops were at that safe house, meaning the ratio was in fact four to one. Yet there was an eleventh angel amongst the squad, leading them to counter those odds. The cat demons recognized him, for he was none other than Hastur. "You!" Arbus screamed at him angrily, furious that he trespassed here. "This is a sacred area! How dare you intrude on it!"

"Sacred because it is where I achieved a victory over otherworldly demons, mainly both of your parents, _demons_ ," Hastur spat out, the silver katana gripped firmly in his hands. It was actually the only weapon he had, for he would not dare to wield a weapon from the Sun Heaven. Using one was beneath him because he considered the weapons there to be inferior to his own. He was quite stubborn just as he was vicious in both his confrontational conduct and his attitude towards others. How he was aware of the cat demons' lineage confused them, though he gave away the answer to that mystery right away. "Don't bother asking about that; I can already see the resemblance to your putrid wretch of a mother my former subordinate slew in cold blood on my order. You'll die too."

"Don't you dare talk about our mother like that!" Arbus shouted, her fury increasing to the point it was overflowing while it boiled within her. The black haired feline materialized her trident, holding it out with the sharp spikes directed at their foes. She could see Ater shiver in her peripheral vision and got in front of her, taking the marble that was her sister's weapon to materialize it prior to handing it over to Ater. "Our parents only wanted a home here to escape their old world! You've got no right to deny them the peace they desperately sought by killing them! You're a monster!"

"As I expected from demons like you," the angelic man spoke harshly, retorting to Arbus' retort. "I knew your parents were unarmed and sought peace, but I had them killed anyway simply because they were demons. That fact only is the sole justification for their deaths, and it is also the properly right cause of action to take. Your parents deserved their deaths just as they deserve to be tormented and tortured violently in whatever hell claimed their souls. You two too deserve the fate they have suffered and are still currently continuing to suffer for all of eternity in this existence."

"Shut your mouth…!" the black haired cat demon growled ferociously, her anger seething through her teeth as her grip on the trident tightened in rage. She didn't want to hear another word from him, and Arbus was planning on killing him immediately to help satisfy their revenge.

"Go ahead and make me," Hastur put forth a rather childish challenge despite his awareness of the fact it was childish. He didn't care because he was using it as a tactic to enrage Arbus further. "You say such things without committing action to the words you speak. Your words mean nothing because they are absolutely nothing. Even if they meant something, I still would not give two shits about listening to you just because you're demons. You've always been demons, and that's why I have included you both among the list of countless others I plan to torment, torture, and kill so that I can advance my plans on becoming the God of Existence. Now fall to me by dying painfully, the same way your parents died by experiencing the very same torment they experienced when killed."

A brief moment of silence ensued followed by a berserk scream of rage from Arbus as she charged into the fray towards Hastur and his squad of sun angels. "YOU BASTARD!" she shouted, zooming forward in her berserk state with the trident she wielded aiming directly for Hastur.

"Arbus!" Ater cried timidly, scared her sister was rushing to her own death.

Hastur, on the other hand, merely shut his eyes nonchalantly and held a hand up to give his squad the signal to proceed forward into combat as he thought of an idea to use. "Kill her."

"Yes sir," one of the clerics responded affirmatively, complying with the order as he along with the other nine sun angels charged forward as well to counter the cat demon's assault. Raising his buckler up to block an attack, he also raised his mace too to strike her on the head. He was the first to engage Arbus, yet he was also the first to die as well because her berserk rage affected both her strength and speed, making her a hard target to hit just as she hit hard. Her trident shoved him back with such force that the weapon broke his buckler and pierced his side; though he survived a blow like that, he could not endure Arbus ripping the trident upwards in a diagonal motion to more than cleave his whole head off. With the first one down, the cat demon moved on to another angel.

The second one to approach was a paladin protecting himself with his shield. The defense was adequate enough to block the slam of her trident when it struck him next after she removed it from the first opponent. However, it too made a stronger impact than initially expected by him. As he was knocked off balance while stumbling into one of the priests, Arbus leapt into the air as she flapped her wings for additional force to drive her trident into both of their chests, killing them. A second paladin attempted to help them, but Arbus swept her legs under him to knock him over just as she swung her trident at the other cleric to push her back too. She aimed for the second paladin, bringing the points of her trident down on his face to impale him as the remaining priest aided the cleric. Four paladins were left standing as were the priest and cleric, the six of them ensuring they surrounded their demonic opponent from three sides for a three pronged attack as their next move.

Yet despite the fact she had gone mad with anger, Arbus was still smart enough to know a weakness of their formation was the priest and cleric combo because only the latter was armed. A mistake on their part was to allow for that to happen, and the black haired cat demon took a chance at capitalizing on it. Rushing towards them as the paladins were closing in, she watched the cleric rush in front of the priest to protect him. Arbus hissed at them both, smacking the cleric and leaping into the air to deliver a successful aerial strike on the priest. With him dead, she whipped her trident backwards like a spear and impaled the cleric. "You assholes want more?! You want to die?!" she whirled around and challenged the remaining paladins who all stopped in their tracks out of sheer hesitation because their fellows could wield the best healing spells among them. They used minor healing spells, so they needed to be careful when dealing with her. Yet her rage made them shiver.

It was at this moment when an arcane circle formed under one paladin, instantly submitting her to a cold blast of ice that froze her immediately. Seeing her helpless pose of terror, the paladin nearest her was startled and stepped back to turn and investigate the spell's source. Unfortunately, he was met by a heater shield to his face which slammed into him with such force that he fell back. Regaining consciousness after a moment's lapse of being disarmed, he looked up to find a demonic spellsword standing over him with a blade produced entirely from electricity pointed at his torso.

Taking this opportunity to deal with the final paladins now that reinforcements arrived, the black haired cat demon charged forward and embedded her trident into the side of one. Arbus took it out with great force to stagger him, whirling around with it to then pierce his torso. This claimed his life, and the last paladin gasped when her comrade was the next to fall. Outnumbered and with only her superior left, she whipped her head back and forth between Hastur and the Gray Garden's combatants, her eyes pleading with him for a hasty retreat until that hope was extinguished by the rapier she felt against the nape of her neck. Slowly turning, she saw a demonic fencer behind her.

"Good work guys," Rorin complimented them on a job well done, smiling at his comrades. With a nod towards the demons, he watched as they returned the gesture before he turned to Arbus. "Are you and Ater alright, Arbus? We noticed you were missing from the safe house and came to look for you both. The two of you aren't hurt anywhere, are you?" he inquired, walking to her.

"We're fine," Arbus commented, averting her gaze to Hastur, "but he encroached on sacred territory on purpose, knowing this was where our parents died." Those last words were filled with poison directed towards the angelic man who led the sun angels. "That damn bastard…" she hissed.

Gazing around the battlefield at the corpses of sun angels the cat demon slew in rage, Rorin frowned somberly since he felt bad for them. They might have come to attack and kill their people, but the sun angels still should've been fought with honor so they could be spared and captured for their own safety. Arbus' rage may have been justified, but that didn't justify the killings. Besides, the blood shed here was disrespectful to their parents because this location was their grave. In any case, the angelic warrior unsheathed his silver claymore from the case on his back and approached Hastur, choosing not to say anything about how the fight was dishonorable to their parents because of the location here. Instead he chose to focus on the threat Hastur posed. "Make sure they will not interfere or try to escape," he instructed the two demons with him, cautiously heading forward and taking a defensive stance. "Arbus, take your sister and flee back to the safe house. We'll cover you both." However, contrary to the order, the black haired cat demon had another idea instead of his.

"No, I'm not leaving! I will be the one who kills him for defiling this place!"

"Absolutely not, Ater needs you more," Rorin reasoned with her, using logic to make Arbus see that comprehensive reasoning. He was aware that Hastur was listening and knew a minor warp spell. Their antagonistic opponent could've used that information against them by teleporting over to Ater and getting behind her with his katana over her throat. She would've been his hostage, but Rorin was trying to prevent that by sending the kitties away before Hastur had the chance to utilize that plan. "Ater is your twin sister; you need to help protect her, and you can do that by taking her back to the safe house as I instructed. Let us handle this while you withdraw before it's too late."

Tipping her head down in shame because she realized he was right, Arbus caved to the idea as she acknowledged her vengeance could've only gotten in the way. By trying to take Hastur on, she was abandoning her duty to keep Ater safe. That was the point her angelic comrade wished to convey, and it was a more important responsibility than taking revenge for their parents. After all, she and Ater were the only family they had left by blood; Kcalb, Etihw, and Wodahs were a foster family to them. Arbus couldn't fail them by leaving Ater alone without her. "Alright, I'm going. I wish you good luck, Mr. Rorin," she remarked and turned to run towards her sister to protect her.

"Thank you, Arbus," he commented with a brief smile, not taking his eyes off Hastur as he frowned in determination, prepared to defend the Gray Garden and its people from this foe. "Sorry, Grora's not here this time, Hastur. You'll have to deal with me instead, though I have no intention of letting you pass. Either stand down and accept arrest, or leave if you won't. Enough blood shed itself here this day; nobody wants more to be spilled on the earth. This is your only chance to make one of the two choices I have given you." Although he knew Hastur wouldn't choose either choice by preferring a fight instead, Rorin was careful to avoid a direct confrontation with him on purpose.

"Neither," Hastur refused, declining both options as Rorin suspected. "I'll depart after I've stained the ground with the blood of everyone here." Whipping his katana around, he sped forward by drawing his wings back and propelling them for a boost of speed. Holding it with two hands, a firm grip on the blade's hilt to ensure he wouldn't be disarmed, Hastur poised to thrust the weapon towards Rorin. However, just before the blow connected he drew it back and quickly slashed down. Luckily Rorin blocked it because he was going to be fighting defensively, and he effectively made sure to parry the following strikes Hastur attempted to deal without attacking him. He was planning on wearing the foe down, letting Hastur tire himself out due to exhaustion. Yet Hastur recognized that was Rorin's strategy all along and decided to teleport out without even saying a word to him.

Reappearing elsewhere, he found himself exactly where he wanted to be: right in between the cat demons as Arbus was sprinting towards her sister. "Ater!" she shrieked and ran faster while the white haired feline tripped over her own feet when she attempted to back away. Stumbling off balance, Ater cried out and grabbed ahold of a tree branch for support to stop her fall as she could only watch helplessly as Hastur relinquished one hand from his katana. Using the blade to counter Arbus' trident while whirling to face her, he rushed to sock her in the stomach and cause her pain. Successfully hurting the abdominal region of her body, Hastur warped out again just as Rorin had already charged forward to protect Arbus, teleporting directly behind Ater and grabbing her throat. The poor girl screamed as she released her trident in fear, watching as the blade touched her neck.

"Then again," the angelic antagonist changed his mind, turning the odds against him to his favor by taking Ater hostage as the other Gray Garden inhabitants feared, "I think I'll depart now, but not without a prisoner of war." Watching her superior seize an advantage, the paladin who had been held at bay by the fencer smiled and quickly whirled around to slash at the demon behind her in an attempt to slay him. Unfortunately, the demonic spellsword anticipated the movement out of his peripheral vision and quietly uttered an incantation to turn the ground under her feet into ice as she shrieked when she slipped and fell. He didn't need to even take his eyes off the paladin he was directing his lightning blade at, and the fencer kept his rapier focused on the fallen paladin. "I think it's a fair trade for all the troops I've lost in today's failed invasion—which was meant to fail since I'm positive you're all going to invade the Sun Heaven soon. Henceforth, consider this incentive."

"How dare you!" Rorin shouted at him while holding Arbus to help her recover, observing as Hastur lowered his head to grip the katana's hilt within his teeth. Reaching into his pocket, their enemy removed a strange orb-like device and dashed it to the ground. The object in question must have been a stone created for the purpose of producing a provisional portal back to the Sun Heaven. It opened below him and Ater, and he held the screaming cat demon close to him as they went into the portal. "No, you let go of her this instant, Hastur!" Rorin shouted again, running to save Ater.

"Come, you will be extinguished by my divine retribution," Hastur gave him a threatening message to relay it back to the Gray Garden's leaders, motivating them to invade the Sun Heaven.

"ATER!" Arbus screamed just as Grora arrived to helplessly watch her sister get captured.

"ARBUS!" Ater screamed back as she was dragged through the portal before it closed. She tried to escape but couldn't, and she disappeared with Hastur as Arbus ran towards the portal where it had once been. She kept crying out her sister's name, wailing miserably because Ater was gone. Arbus had tried to protect Ater, but failed because of Hastur; that horrible man had kidnapped Ater by spiriting her away to the Sun Heaven, and Arbus feared she'd never get to see her sister again.

Grora too was also deeply affected by this catastrophic misfortune, for she silently watched the white haired cat demon be pulled into the portal by Hastur. She was speechless, unable to really say anything or even think about anything for that matter. All that was on her mind was this tragic incident, an incident she failed to stop because she didn't do anything. Her weakness made Grora fall to her knees, shivering uncontrollably in terror since she failed to stop her old boss from doing something that felt strongly reminiscent to what the angelic archer did in the past: murdering both of the cat demons' parents. Hastur had taken Ater, and Grora could only cower in fear and guilt as she was paralyzed by both which prevented her from acting. She wasn't strong enough to stop him from committing their heinous act of treachery, and Grora couldn't stop herself from crying while uttering out a single name: the name of the man she absolutely despised because of what he'd done to her and the other inhabitants of the Gray Garden, including Ater and Arbus. Throwing her head back, Grora screamed that name out in painful anger towards him. "HASTUUUUUUUUURRR!"

…

 **And thus the war against the Sun Heaven begins with Ater's fate hanging in a balance of uncertainty. What will become of her now that Hastur's taken her hostage? Find out soon!**

 **The buckler and heater shield are shields that were used in Medieval Europe, and the former was also used during the Renaissance. The latter was also in in Dark Souls, but I did not look to that game for inspiration regarding its inclusion in this story. However, I will put in the disclaimer for that anyway. You can learn more about these shields on Wikipedia.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Souls; it's owned by From Software.**


	27. Chapter Twenty-Seven: For Atonement

"Sir Devil, it's an absolute emergency! We need to send troops in now!" she exclaimed as she hurried into the office where the Devil, Goddess, and Head Angel were all discussing the plan of action for their upcoming invasion of the Sun Heaven with aid from the Corporate Heaven. The archer panted heavily from flying back here as fast as she could with Arbus in tow, the two fighters exhausted from the flight back that subsequently occurred after driving Hastur back. Their urgency garnered everyone's attention, and even the military leaders who were taking part in the discussion were surprised to find the angelic lady in such a frightened condition. Grora was very pale and she was also trembling, fear overtaking her because she was worried about what had happened before.

"What is it, Grora?" Etihw asked, sauntering over to the angel and cat demon to see if they were alright, wondering what had worked them into quite a frantic frenzy. "Have you found where the remaining eleven sun angels were? Did you take care of them before they could cause chaos?"

"A-A-Ater…A-A-Ater…" Arbus cried, her voice hoarse from crying so much. "S-s-she…"

The Goddess' eyes widened in shock, fear for the white haired cat demon's life taking over in place of the stoic collectedness she'd been expressing due to the situation's severity. She could not help but shudder at the thought of Ater being harmed, and she too became worried for her sake. "W-what about Ater?! Is she alright?!" she asked in a panic. "Where is she, Arbus?! Why isn't she with you?! Don't tell me…" Her hands flew to her mouth as she feared the worst—that Ater died.

"Hastur kidnapped Ater!" Grora shouted, equally panicked like the Goddess. "He was there and I saw him do it! He whisked her away to the Sun Heaven! We need to save her!" Seizing Etihw by the shoulders, she shook her hard and looked deep into her eyes to emphasize how unfortunate the problem pertaining to the invasion became. "He'll kill her when he gets the chance! We've got to act now before it's too late! Send out the order to march now, or else…o-or e-else…" Her voice died away and she released Etihw, beginning to pace the office with a hand held up to her mouth.

"He was among those sun angels and took her hostage?" Kcalb repeated rhetorically. He'd become worried as well, though tried to keep a level head among the conflict. Watching Arbus cry in Etihw's arms as the Goddess attempted to comfort the poor girl while Grora ignored the military leaders who tried to give her comfort too as she continued to pace frantically, he considered if they could've been in a good position to advance. Leaning against his desk, the Devil shut his eyes and thought about how to best approach the situation. He cared about Ater and Arbus greatly; although they might not have always listened to him due to their feline nature as cat demons, he loved them both immensely like a father figure to them. Thinking over whether it was the proper time to make the soldiers advance at once, Kcalb pondered on calling Fumus to update him on the situation and check in with Lenny as well to see if the former sun angel reached the Sun Heaven as of yet.

"Of course he took her hostage!" Grora screamed at him in a panicked state, whirling since she was now confronting him about the dire turn of events. "I saw him do it and did nothing! I was too late to help save her from that bastard! I-I couldn't do anything, I-I…" Grora's voice died once more and she resumed her pacing, timid tears forming in her eye as she began to babble nonsense incoherently. "I-I c-could've helped…I-I was in a-a p-position t-to, I-I…" She closed one hand as a fist and slammed it against a wall she was by, sniffing because she couldn't forgive a failure like that. Hunching over as she sniveled, the angel said nothing as Wodahs put a hand on her shoulder.

Feeling unable to watch them suffer any longer, Kcalb finally made a decision. "I'll contact Fumus to let him know what happened and inform him we'll have to leave ahead of schedule if the portal's still open in the Sun Heaven. He's probably almost ready on his end, so I'll tell him to try and hurry if he can. I'll also see to it that Lenny is contacted to keep an eye out for Ater."

"Yes, please see that you do, Kcalb," Etihw commented nervously, still holding Arbus.

"Don't worry, I'll get right on it," the Devil replied and began to dial Fumus' number with his cellphone, having kept it in his list of contacts ever since they first met when establishing trade routes and commodities to trade with one another. "Wod, could you send word to Lenny as well?"

"I'm already on it," the Head Angel said, dialing that number as well.

…

After a good while of maintaining his distance from the other sun angels who were fleeing back into the Sun Heaven following their defeat in the Gray Garden, he finally caught sight of the exit and passed through it with them. None of them noticed his presence because he was certainly far behind, yet still close enough to shadow them effectively. Furthermore, as a sun angel they did not know he was among them because of the panic that gripped them. Although they could maybe sense his presence, none of them were aware of how many had actually fallen in the battle. They've only been concerned with getting away to report the loss to Hastur, and none of them looked back to see if anyone was following them. If they did, Lenny might've been caught; luckily he wasn't.

Upon emerging into the Sun Heaven proper, the former sun angel split from the main group and found a good alcove behind a space of burned trees he could use to conceal his presence. This nook was a good hiding spot, and from here he could make out a large temple nearby with several burned down homesteads and other buildings around it. Gazing around the area while removing a small, handheld telescope from a pocket container within his gold cuirass, Lenny examined every part of the location he could see and noted the area was in complete disarray. Everything had been in a decrepit state, from the crumbling, burned down structures to the soil darkened and deadened by improper disuse. The whole place was like a wasteland, like one heard about in the Gray Garden sometime after he turned his coat against the Sun Heaven. This must've been due to the civil war.

Focusing his sights on the contingent of remaining troops from the battalion, Lenny caught sight of another portal opening before them as Hastur emerged from that one. Observing him with somebody else in his grasp, the paladin frowned grimly because he recognized that was Ater. She had been knocked unconscious and was being hoisted over Hastur's shoulder as he carried her. An escort unit consisting of four paladins led by a cleric with flowing red hair emerged from the temple and met up with the Gray Garden's exiled angel. Lenny recognized him as Leihsuk, one of the few head inquisitors who worked at the temple, figuring Leihsuk must've betrayed the Sun Inquisition. He watched Hastur speak with him for a bit as the defeated sun angels were tuckered out from the retreat. Moments later he gave Leihsuk a signal to do something, and Lenny found out what it was by watching the angelic cleric prepare a powerful spell of divine magic and cast it over the others. It was developed to produce explosions of light within whoever it was cast upon, the area of effect covering the entire remaining contingent as they screamed in painful terror. They were no more as their bodies were reduced to ashes before Leihsuk turned around to follow Hastur and the paladins into the Sun Inquisition. Lenny felt sorry for the victims because they were only following orders.

Hearing a ringtone from within another pocket container, he pulled out a cellphone. Taking a look at the caller ID, the former sun angel noticed Wodahs was contacting him. "What's up?" he asked, answering the call while holding the cellphone to his ear. "You need information at once?"

"That, and we've also got a dire update on the status of the invasion," Wodahs replied.

"I think I know what that already means," Lenny remarked, setting his sights on the temple to investigate it for any signs of security to see how well defended it was. "I saw Hastur with Ater. He brought her into the Sun Inquisition while one of his subordinates killed the sun angels who've fled from us after their failed attempt to invade the Gray Garden. I'm guessing he snuck in to take her hostage." His guess was correct since the Head Angel confirmed what had happened there.

"Correct, Ater's been kidnapped, though the squad with Hastur was defeated. He left alone while abandoning that squad. Arbus killed most of the soldiers in it, but we got the survivors who were left behind. Since you're there, provide us with a sit rep on the area; tell us what building the foes are centered around and estimate how many soldiers are currently there as of this moment."

"The sun angels with Hastur have made the Sun Inquisition their headquarters if I'm right," the paladin reported, examining the building while reading a sign out front which confirmed it was the name of the building. "It's a huge temple constructed in a baroque style while serving as a kind of bastille for prisoners of war and criminals, both of whom include demons and humans who have sinned against Siralos and the religion focused entirely on the sun. Anyone and everyone who has been sent here was brutally tortured until they repented if they were humans; demons were simply killed after giving in and acknowledging Siralos and the sun angels as their superiors." He watched around one thousand or so soldiers encamped on the plateau below the Sun Inquisition and caught sight of around two hundred more patrolling the area while three hundred guarded the building. "I can see around one thousand fifteen hundred soldiers in the area. There may be more elsewhere."

"Seems like the place is heavily guarded," Wodahs surmised. "Has the portal been closed?"

"Some priests and clerics are currently shutting it down. We'll need another entrance."

"Duly noted," the Head Angel responded and gave Lenny instructions. "Explore the place. Do not try to break into the Sun Inquisition on your own. Instead, investigate the surrounding area further before moving on to other regions in search of places that could be potential areas where portals may have been established. You've got the beacon with you, so simply place it there and a portal will open for us. We'll come through soon to establish a foothold for our army and Fumus' too. It's earlier than expected, I know, but we must try to rescue Ater before it's too late. Do your best to avoid patrols from either side in the civil war and try not to get caught."

"Understood, but what if I do run into Igls Unth's forces?" Lenny inquired. "Should I look to her for possible aid if need be? Does the same go for Ivlis if he took the opportunity to conquer the Sun Heaven? The more allies we acquire, the better our chances of success could be."

"If possible, yes for either party. Just approach them amiably without hostility."

"Understood, I'll contact you again soon if I uncover anything else," the paladin responded, glancing up at the sky after pocketing his cellphone and handheld telescope. Dark clouds were all encompassing, blotting out all traces of light from both the sun and the moon. The only sources of light available were torches and campfires dotting the area, so Lenny used those as markers for the path guiding him around the area. Closing in on one of the ruined buildings, he noted the presence of five other sun angels on patrol and silently darted into the structure after hiding behind it. While his boots were noisy due to being heavy armor, he successfully managed to avoid getting seen and heard. An old, tattered cloak hung from a hook near the hole he entered which garnered attention. The way it blew softly in the wind even as he grabbed ahold of it was silently and foreboding, yet he knew nobody was there since the building was destroyed. Looking around, he observed it used to be the living room of a normal homestead. Furniture was overturned and broken, paintings with portraits strewn about the floor as broken glass littered it too. Carefully stepping over them as best he could while putting the cloak on, Lenny made his way to a window and peered out the blinds.

"This place could sure use some renovations…" he quietly mused, whispering to no one in particular because that vocal thought was confined only to this room. He was the sole occupant to hear it, for nobody else could. More sun angels were guarding a chokepoint in this town by a torch, though Lenny wouldn't deal with them because they outnumbered him. Although he had his blade with him, the paladin was alone all by himself. Instead, he searched the house and found nothing in particular because nothing was noteworthy. Exiting through what had once been the backdoor and ducking behind a fence upon seeing another patrol unit, he made good of his escape from that town and got away unseen and unheard. He had told Grora he wasn't a roguish character, though stealth somehow came naturally to him, making him ponder about changing his class to something else that was good at stealth. Maybe it was a spot of luck, but either way he left by crossing through a dank forest of burned trees. Small bunkers leading to underground shelters dotted the area, and he checked every one he happened to come across on his journey through the decaying forest.

All of them were empty, devoid of life except for the carcasses of dead sun angels slain by whoever did the deed. Since Hastur seemed to be in command of this particular region, he figured it must've been his forces. That was merely a guess, but one that might've held some truth to it as Hastur probably raided the region with his party. He must've slaughtered everybody there, letting the corpses rot since they were quite useless in this state. Unless he employed necromancers—and Lenny heard Hastur would never resort to that even if it was a desperate last resource—these dead husks would forever remain here until they were buried. Each of them were already rotting, several rats chewing on some remains while maggots engulfed a lot of the bodies they called home. While he couldn't locate much, Lenny did come across a report requesting assistance from Igls Unth that never made it through. It was undelivered likely because of the massive slaughter in these parts.

"Igls Unth…" Lenny murmured to himself, wondering if she was alright and also in a good position to adequately handle the civil war. With her father mentally crippled, the angelic lady was the best candidate to rule the Sun Heaven on behalf of Siralos if this heaven was forced to become a dynastic monarchy for however long was necessary to stem the tide of opposition. Governing an entire heaven as a regent was not impossible under a set of certain circumstances pertaining to how that regent acquired such power and if he or she governed on behalf of somebody with more power. Yet in this scenario it was more difficult due to the civil war, hence why he needed information. It was crucial to comprehend the state of affairs concerning this civil war to make things clearer. He probably wouldn't find anything else in the shelters, but it wouldn't hurt to check the rest of them. However, he couldn't waste too much time because he had to find an area to leave the beacon since the Gray Garden and Corporate Heaven would be sending their armies into this world very soon.

Considering the timeframe between this world and the Gray Garden, perhaps less than two years had passed in this world since he was last here. That meant the fighting was going on for the duration of those two years if not longer or exact, whereas days to a month would've passed in the Gray Garden. Of course, that was just an estimate on Lenny's part; he himself wasn't exactly sure how time flowed in this world because he hadn't learned too much about it. Although time flowed differently in all the worlds, some worlds didn't require getting adjusting to the passage of time in them. It was certainly a confusing process, especially when some worlds followed a similar or the exact same timeframe as another world. Of course, it was quite occasional and sometimes rare. He might've even been wrong about his estimate, and Lenny felt sure he was probably off in the idea. Still, it was a hypothesis he could formulate based on how much time he spent in three different worlds: the Land of the Sun, particularly its heaven; the Gray Garden; and the Pitch Black World's Corporate Heaven. Either he was right, close to being right, or wrong in any or all respects.

Leaving one of the bunkers he was currently checking, Lenny spied another one a distance away at the base of a mountain with a campfire around it. Although he could only make it out as a small dot on the horizon, the former sun angel nevertheless trudged onwards towards it. Flight was faster, so he spread his wings out and began to soar high in the sky to avoid getting caught by any patrols that might've been around. Using the darkened sky as cover, he crept closer to the light and observed some patrols were in fact guarding the vicinity. Even though he couldn't see who any of them were, Lenny nevertheless took a risk in descending regardless of what faction they were part of. None of them were by the shelter, and he only observed three patrols of two troops each which totaled up to six soldiers. It was quite a low number for a place poorly guarded, though Lenny had to command them on how well hidden they were even though he managed to see glimpses of them.

Landing outside the bunker, Lenny noticed the door was ajar and cautiously peeked inside with a hand on the hilt of his blade. Peering inside, he could see electric lights which seemed rather odd as he knew the Sun Heaven never used electricity since all of the light fixtures were powered directly, and solely, by the sun's energy. It was a renewable energy source, and the fact that electric lights were present indicated somebody else had to have found a way to provide additional sources of light in this heaven's dark time, aside from firelight. Whoever it was might not have been from around here, or even from the Sun Heaven itself. Lenny believed that might've been the case, and he also knew humans in this world's mortal plane utilized solar panels to gather sunlight for energy they could use and store. It must've been a base of operations for some of the demons under Ivlis, for the paladin couldn't think of anyone else who could've set up the necessary equipment for this source of light. Siralos hardly entertained other angels and deities, and the only embassy that used to be in his heaven prior to the civil war was Justim's, and his angels already left the Sun Heaven.

Stepping inside the foyer, Lenny removed his boots to put on a pair of regular shoes for the rest of this jaunt. If whoever was here was hostile, he needed to be careful, lest he end up in trouble. Storing the boots within a makeshift backpack he located near the entrance, he then slung the thing over his shoulder and cautiously went down the stairs to investigate the location further. He gripped the hilt of his sword tighter, ready to unsheathe the weapon at a moment's notice if combat began. Hopefully it didn't, though he could definitely hear somebody speaking in one of the chambers in the deeper recesses of this shelter. Approaching the room in question, noting the lack of carcasses in spite of their stench layered thickly on the walls, floor, and ceiling, Lenny came to the conclusion that every corpse was disposed of. He didn't know how, but was grateful the sun angels had a nice funeral—if they received a proper funeral at all; for all he knew, the corpses were simply destroyed.

The sound of talking grew louder, and he could definitely make out a rough texture to this individual's tone of voice. The person was a guy, young, and sounding quite cautious. His identity was unknown to Lenny for the time being, though he could smell sulfur in the air that was familiar to him from excursions into the Flame Underworld at times to capture demons. It definitely reeked of the stench which contributed to the decaying cadaverous stench. Sure enough, his theory was in fact correct: demons from the Flame Underworld were definitely here. He didn't know how many, but he strongly believed more than one was present within the shelter because the voice addressed more than one other demon, plus there were six soldiers outside—most likely demons too.

Upon getting closer, the paladin suddenly felt something sharp touch the nape of his neck. Turning around, he came face to face with a lampad wielding an axe and attired in what could only be described as a mixture of three armor styles in one: Kevlar, leather, and chainmail. Silvery hair ran down to his neck, and he also prepared a spell in his free hand to coat it in fire. "You lost?" he inquired bitterly, demanding to know why a sun angel had penetrated their base of operations here. "You've yet to descend into Hell, if you catch my drift." He also didn't smile, speaking literally.

Lenny calmed himself, relinquishing his grip on the sword since he did not want to offend the demons. He acknowledged they must've known about the civil war and were capitalizing on it by invading the Sun Heaven. Ergo, they were considered allies against a common threat. Although Lenny was not overly fond of working with demons, especially those from his own world, he made an exception for the Gray Garden and would make another one—temporarily—for the Land of the Sun. "Not really," he answered honestly, keeping his voice low so as not to interrupt the other one who was still speaking. "As a matter of fact, I'm glad to have met up with you. I come in peace."

"Sure you do," the demon spat out, not buying it. "That's what they all say."

"I mean it, I'm working with the Gray Garden and—"

"The Gray Garden…" This gave the lampad pause as he pondered why a sun angel worked with a world the flame demons invaded before. "What, you trying to garner allies against us?" He was getting suspicious now, and rightly so since he didn't believe the Sun Heaven would be allied with that world due to the Flame Underworld's invasion of it. That would have shown Siralos that Etihw was living in peace with Kcalb and demons, so the Sun God wouldn't work with her. Then again, perhaps he and Igls Unth sought allies against Ivlis and found they had no choice but to look to the Gray Garden if need be. He didn't know Siralos already knew that. "You know we're here?"

"No, I'm afraid not," Lenny responded calmly. "May I speak with the one in charge here?"

The lampad gave it some thought for a couple minutes, taking pros and cons into account. Reaching a decision, he raised his voice to call out the squad leader's name. "Emalf, someone for you!" Grabbing Lenny's shoulder after dispelling the magic in his hand, he kept the axe up against the paladin's throat while ushering him into what had once been the war council room. Obviously the chamber was still used as such, plus Lenny recognized Emalf as Ivlis' second-in-command and Commander-in-Chief of the Flame Army. Therefore, Emalf had the floor in the war council room.

Stepping into the room, the former sun angel observed all of the demons in there also wore the same kind of armor the lampad was decked in. Amongst them was a demon with strange horns and bat wings, both of which were dark red just as his tail was a similar shade; contrast to each of these physical traits was a much lighter shade inherent in his clawed hands that had rings on a few of the fingers. There were similar piercings on other parts of his body like his ears, wings, and tail. His mauve hair was pretty messy, and he also wore sunglasses over his eyes. Among other demons in the room, he stood out by walking forward to examine their captive. Raising one hand to lower his shades an inch to reveal amber eyes, the flame demon skimmed over the paladin a couple times before gesturing to the lampad as an order to have Lenny patted down. "So, you the captive we've just collected now?" he asked in a somewhat cocky tone. "Must be out of your lead, dude."

"And you must be Emalf, Ivlis' right hand man," Lenny commented, his statement putting a smile on Emalf's face since the flame demon was glad for that acknowledgement of his status.

"Smart man, very perceptive of you. I must be quite famous in the Sun Heaven that doesn't pay attention to what goes on down in the underworld," Emalf remarked, watching another demon take the sword clipped to Lenny's belt while the paladin willingly turned over the contents on him and removed the armor to reveal a plain polo shirt and jeans as his attire. "You alone here, man?"

"Why yes, I am alone, no one's with me. Nobody knows except for the Gray Garden along with the Corporate Heaven—well, the people in both places know what I'm doing, though they do not know my current whereabouts even though I am working with those places in question."

"And just why is a sun angel working with the Gray Garden? I doubt Siralos would assign the White Goddess to a supportive role in his civil war. I get the Smoking God, not that world."

"Siralos attempted to invade the Gray Garden and the Corporate Heaven," Lenny explained by not beating around the bush. Instead, he got right to the point and was honest in telling it. "The God of All Gods, Justim, has given his approval for the latter to invade the Sun Heaven and looked to the former for military aid and additional support. I turned against the Sun Heaven and am now working with them to prevent the Sun Heaven from attacking any more foreign heavens and allies."

"And you think coming to us will secure our placement as allies in your endeavor?" Emalf asked, correctly perceiving the reason why Lenny was there in the first place. "They here yet?"

"No, but they will be soon; I'll be finding a place for a portal to be opened for them. We've thought about taking you in as temporary allies, so to speak, hence the possible partnership in this war. Considering that you're going up against our foes, we'd like to request that we form this tie."

"Can't make that decision on my own," Emalf commented. "Lord Ivlis has the say in that."

"Then could you relay the message to him, or lead me to him?" the former sun angel asked.

Emalf put a bent finger to his chin, thinking his decision over before shrugging. "Eh, sure, why not? I bet Lord Ivlis would take the deal if it means he gets more allies against the Sun God."

"Thank you," Lenny remarked with a small smile, bowing his head. "Oh, and Siralos is not the one in charge anymore since he's mentally incapacitated from what I heard. Igls Unth is—"

"Don't sweat the details yet, man," Emalf instructed him. "Save them for Lord Ivlis."

…

Regaining consciousness somewhat after she was knocked out, her eyelids opened partially even though she could hardly make out anything. Her sight had gone blurry, and the poor girl was feeling pretty dizzy and lightheaded. Unable to move because her limbs felt heavy, Ater attempted to breathe and found she could albeit with some difficulty. For some reason she felt very sick and nauseous, the motion sickness getting to her as she was being carried over someone's shoulder. A good question she could've asked was where she was, but her vocal chords couldn't produce much sound. Ater already knew who this man was, but was completely lost as to her surroundings.

At one point on the little stroll, her body was laid out on a table of some sort with strangers all around her. She couldn't make them out that well, but definitely noticed the orange tint covering their entire wings. Therefore she theorized she was either at a camp the sun angels established, or somewhere in the Sun Heaven itself. Somebody began speaking, though she couldn't understand what the person was saying that well. "Administer…drug…overdose…" As she'd been unable to comprehend much else beyond that, Ater felt they were drugging her. They did by shoving weird substances into her mouth, forcing them down her throat as she tried to choke in order to breathe.

Eventually she was picked up again and went on another walk—actually she was carried—over to another area of wherever she must've been. She heard a kind of door made of bars open—a prison cell door?—before her frail, limp form was viciously thrown in. Ater slammed into a wall face first and slumped against the floor, her body falling sideways on it. The poor girl could barely hear anything aside from footsteps leaving her position until they gradually disappeared, yet Ater's ears tried to perk up slightly at the sound of incoherent muttering, ramblings from within a cell by hers. The voice sounded familiar, though Ater couldn't make out who it was as her mind was shot.

Ater felt extremely sick, shivering as she tried to lift herself up. Vomiting heavily, she held her stomach with one hand while struggling to keep herself upright with the other shaky hand. Yet she fell face first into her own vomit, the bile consisting of food that had been in her stomach along with whatever drugs these people administered to her. She could feel much weaker, believing she'd been poisoned by them and would probably die at any moment. Her whole body turned very ashen and trembled uncontrollably, plus her heartbeat had gotten faint just like her pulse. Life felt…over.

In these final moments of consciousness, Ater tried her best to think of the individuals she cherished dearly. Arbus…Kcalb…Etihw…Wodahs…Her thoughts of them made her snivel while she began to weakly weep, tears flowing down her cheeks and into the vomit. However, Ater also thought about Grora too because the angelic lady was somehow on her mind. She didn't know the reason why, but acknowledged that Grora was relevant to Hastur in some way, that they knew each other. She heard why from Arbus and couldn't help but feel sorry for the angelic lady even though Grora tormented them. Still, Ater wanted to be saved from whatever fate she was dealt with as she wished somebody would save her. Anybody would've done, even Grora herself for that matter so long as Ater was freed from whatever prison she must've been left in before it became her tomb.

"Arbus…Kcalb…Etihw…Wodahs…Grora…" Ater whispered weakly in tears and cried.

…

 _"So…" she murmured a rhetorical demand, having located her targets after tracking them for a while. They were before her, the man lying on the ground due to the wound he received from her. The archer nocked another arrow and aimed at his other leg. "You're the demons who thought about offering the demons and Fallen Angels in our world support. Your luck just ran out, now tell me who you're working for." Shooting the other arrow, she watched it embed itself in his leg and listened to him cry out in agony, his companion panicking at the site of her husband's injuries._

 _"P-please, h-hold on, w-we'll get you a healer, w-we—" she stammered timidly and turned to face their angelic attacker, her eyes begging for mercy. "P-please, w-we don't want any trouble, a-all we need is a good home for—" Her voice died out as her husband began to speak nervously._

 _"Y-yes, w-we'll do anything you ask, just name it! W-we're both unarmed, w-we—"_

 _"Answer the damn question!" Grora shouted at them, nocking two more arrows which flew into his head and heart to kill the demon before saying her demand again. "Who are you working for?! Who the hell sent you into our world?! Which foreign Devil do you assholes serve?!"_

 _The poor woman screamed, her cries revolving around the bloody murder occurring right before her eyes. First her poor husband was victimized and slain, and now it seemed she and both of their baby girls were going to be killed next. "W-what have you done?!" she demanded, gazing at the angel in horror as said angel stormed closer, nocking more arrows into her bow. "W-we've given you our word we won't cause chaos and do anything! W-We're not working for anybody as we've fled our old world! W-we're no longer in service to the Devil because he dead! P-please, it is the t-truth, I-I b-beg you, p-please d-don't kill us, I-I—" she attempted to plead, but failed._

 _"WRONG ANSWER!" Grora screamed in anger and embedded the arrows into her, killing the woman instantly. "This is on your head for lying! Don't you dare tell me you're working alone! I know better than that!" Quickly realizing the lady was already dead, Grora sighed, face palming. "Wonderful, they didn't turn over the information we sought. Oh well, perhaps they've got papers on them, documents pertaining to whatever mission they're on. Might as well check the corpses." Stepping closer and kneeling down to loot the cadavers, the angel removed a bunch of items from their pockets and tossed them aside since the things were useless junk she couldn't care less about. Moving on to the backpacks with them next, she located a journal belonging to the man and flipped through the pages, learning they came from the Flower World and had been wondering the worlds in search of a home after the God of their world invaded their underworld to commit heinous war crimes. They've traveled to many places, but never fit in and wanted a nice home to raise a family consisting only of themselves and their beautiful baby girls, two kitten demons born just recently._

 _Grora blinked upon reading entries pertaining to the children. "Huh? They've got infants with them?" She shrugged the notion off, figuring these two demons probably made that up. "They didn't have kids with them, so maybe those little shits are elsewhere. Come to think of it, they had no weapons on their persons. Perhaps they hid them somewhere." Her gaze averted to the basket, the one that demonic woman she just slayed was carrying before gently setting it on the ground. A blanket covered the basket, concealing what was within it from her. "The weapons must be there, or it could be some kind of poison or deadly creature." Perhaps the 'infants' were in the basket._

 _Reaching her arm over to grab the basket, she heard a sudden sound from within that made her eyes widen in surprise. "What the…?" she murmured quietly, looking back to the journal and rereading the nearest entry about the kitten demons. "It couldn't be, could it…?" Grabbing it with one hand, Grora lifted the blanket up with the other and felt her heart sink at the sight of two little baby kittens just lying close to one another. Their eyes and ears were closed, and the both of them squirmed slightly in their bed. The two kittens must've been waking up, yet their parents were not able to calm them down and put them back to sleep. They couldn't because Grora killed them both. Turning very pale as she began to tremble uncontrollably, Grora nearly dropped the basket when she realized what she had done was wrong. Her breath got caught in her throat too as she couldn't breathe well due to the fearful guilt of the crime she just committed, a sin that tainted her. "I-I…"_

 _"The deed is done, Grora?" a man asked from behind her, making Grora jump as she had whirled around to face him. Hastur stood over her with several other angels by him, watching the angelic lady holding the kitten demons. "Excellent work, now kill the brats at once this instant."_

 _"B-but s-sir, t-they're just infants," she tried to reason with him, hoping to spare the kitten demons. "They don't look dangerous in their state." She held the basket up to show him. "Look, I can even tell they won't be much of a threat to us. Surely we could do something else with them."_

 _Without even blinking or showing even a shred of emotion, Hastur wrenched the basket out of her hands in one quick motion and stormed past Grora, walking towards a cliff. "I think not."_

 _"W-wait, w-what're you—" Grora piped up to ask him what he planned on doing when he suddenly threw the basket down into the river below. Her eyes widened in shock as she gasped in fright, running to the cliff and peering down into the river as she watched the basket float away in the distance. Although Grora thought about rescuing them, Hastur stopped her from doing that._

 _"You are my second-in-command, Grora. I expect you to do your duty without fail," Hastur said, tightly gripping the collar of her Mithril armor and coldly staring into her face, his eyes full of enraged hatred. "Either you do, or I shall have to slay you on the spot here and now, got it?"_

 _Grora swallowed heavily, shivering fearfully as she stared into his eyes. "Y-yes, s-sir," she remarked, stumbling off balance and nearly falling off the cliff herself when he threw to the side._

…

 _To say she felt fine in the coming week following that latest mission to kill those two demons would've been nothing more than a lie, for she really hadn't felt fine at all. Each day it nagged at her conscious, eating away at Grora just like the other victims who died by her hands. Even those she hadn't tortured and killed were bothering her more than ever, their anguish heavily burdening her down under the weight of their suffering. All of True Light's victims were put through pain due to the organization's traditional beliefs and their hatred for demons and Fallen Angels. They could not withstand the torture, yet their wills stood strong which Grora had to give them credit for. Yet the emotions and feelings those victims felt were screaming at her, just like the spirits of the victims those aspects belonged too: confusion, anger, fear, dismay, and guilt. Four except for the guilt had good reason behind them; the aforementioned guilt was entirely unfounded since they did nothing wrong. Only the perpetrators, their tormentors in True Light, were guilty even if some members in the order denied they felt guilty whereas others found pleasure in what they did for their beliefs._

 _During the following week, Grora struggled with her ideals and sense of right and wrong. She fought the guilt as hard as she could alongside those other feelings, but soon realized it was a losing battle. Each day she was wracked by a severe migraine, exhaustion from work in the castle and for True Light kicking in which tuckered her out. Left alone in her duties at Blancblack Castle, Grora felt isolated from both her fellow associates from the organization and also the employees. She was caught in between two opposing virtues: the peace established by angels and demons, and the traditional conflict between angels and demons. Both of those ideals couldn't coexist since the two were fundamentally opposite and would never fit together in the Gray Garden anymore if this was how their world was going to be from now on. As for True Light, she couldn't adequately take care of the responsibilities she was entrusted with due to the torture the order inflicted on victims._

 _Torn between two ideologies threatening to tear her apart, Grora felt indecisive and scared because it seemed like she was being placed in a lose-lose scenario. At first she thought it was just a win-lose scenario, but now she felt otherwise. Before they probably had a chance at successfully reviving the old conflict between angels and demons if they continued their radical activities. They may have failed if they were caught, and that loss continued to exist within the framework of cost. Now they still could've been caught, yet Grora began to believe what True Light was doing would not accomplish their goals since she now realized more was at stake than what she initially thought was important to them. In their old world, the Colored Rainbow World that existed during the war, strife between demons and angels was the norm just as it was in every other world—with the Pitch Black World at the time being a possible exception to the natural law, as was the Flower World if possible. Their current world, the Gray Garden that was created by Etihw and Kcalb after the war between them and their respective civilizations, was now a world of peace like those exceptions to the natural law of angels vs. demons—except the Flower World was purely demonic and pagan._

 _Things were different now, the changes from their old world being indecipherable because the values of conflict were no longer present even if monuments of the past were as reminders that served to show and demonstrate that what happened did indeed exist. Although it wasn't currently in this world anymore, it had once existed in the Gray Garden's past, the other world it once used to be prior to being created. The past was gone, but still there in an imprinted memorial in memory._

 _Grora sighed, thinking long and hard on what she wanted to do and what she needed to do for this world and their people, specifically the angels. The two notions were inherently dissimilar to one another with want being something that appealed to her and need being something she felt obligated to do. The two could've gone hand in hand with her wanting to do a need, however, and that was part of the problem afflicting her because she didn't know what she wanted to do as well as what she needed to do too. She wanted to reintroduce the conflict between their people because it was a natural law that needed to be followed. She needed to reintroduce that conflict because it was the natural law, whether others wanted to follow it or not. The latter part of that need was the issue since others did not have to follow it because they didn't want to, and if they did not want to, then what? Punish them for not complying with the natural law through any means necessary? An intricate question with simple arguments in favor of and against it becoming more complex, though it contributed to making the distinction between want and need unclear by muddling the want since the want was just that. It was what somebody wanted to do, regardless of whether need was needed._

 _That was why she arrived early at the planned meeting today. Having entered their chapel headquarters, the angelic archer strode forward with her hands in her pockets. Ambling down the center aisle, Grora approached the cross upfront and stood before it. Her eyes had been narrowed, but her facial expression was very somber as she stared at it for several minutes while wondering about what to do. Removing her left hand from her pocket, the angel crossed herself and shut both eyes, putting her hand back into her pocket as she then sauntered over to the back office. The door was ajar and she pushed it open with her side, opening her eyes to look over the office and ponder on its functionality. During the war it was used by a priest in charge of the divine affairs pertaining to this mine by giving its workers and miners spiritual and psychological help. Now it was Hastur's office, and he used it to prepare and store propaganda only their organization knew about. Another use was as a waiting room for potential recruits to stay in until the ceremonial trial they underwent to become full members, the trial consisting solely of Grora and Hastur looking them over directly before making the decision. If they passed, they were in; if they failed, they were slain by them._

 _Going over to the desk, Grora plopped herself down in her boss' chair and swiveled it into the desk. As Hastur's lieutenant, she was only other angel in True Light allowed to sit at his desk, plus she also had the privilege of using it too. In other words, it was their shared desk. Resting her elbows on the surface, the angelic lady sighed again and closed her eyes while listening to silence throughout the clearing. Nothing called this place home; no monsters had come in here, and if the foul creatures did they were slaughtered without hesitation because this was True Light's base. It was not a monster den. Yet nobody else was here, at least not yet, so Grora was all alone with her thoughts and feelings just like back at Blancblack Castle this past week. She felt utterly isolated._

" _What should I do?" she murmured quietly to herself, knowing that should was similar to need because it was something she had to do whether it was a need or a want that went with need. Trapped within a rock and a hard place with no hope of escape, the feelings and thoughts engulfing her whole to leave her stranded in dark loneliness where her confusion, fear, and guilt completely consumed her, Grora felt unsure and indecisive. The angel didn't know what to do anymore since she was conflicted over her ideals, needs, and wants. The ideals of peace and natural law…a need to reintroduce the latter and a want to preserve it…a need to preserve the former alongside a want to abolish the former. These subjects hit her hard ever since she murdered those cat demons from the Flower World and watched their infant daughters be cast off the cliff into the river by Hastur. Everything seemed blurred and nothing was clear anymore. This was a total crisis for Grora since endless questions upon questions bombarded her, and answers and solutions to them were unclear._

 _Noticing Hastur's journal was left open and face down with the spine facing the ceiling, a thought occurred to her that perhaps reading their organization's mission statement would give a bit of aid in acquiring a feeling of certainty. Grora needed all the help she could get in ascertaining what she was supposed to do, so she picked up the journal Hastur recorded all of the activities the order participated in. The book served as a log of sorts detailing mission plans alongside identities of members in True Light as well as targets who would've weakened the social constructs in society when they were captured. Though that last part was unfulfilled because none of their victims dared to say anything bad about the Gray Garden, the reading was welcome to her all the same for aid._

 _Starting at the beginning, Grora analyzed the pages very carefully as she skimmed through the most important ones. All she had to do was go over the mission statement which was mainly a simple remark along the lines of demons needing to perish with Fallen Angels so true light could exist without the threat of darkness tainting it in any way. However, even that didn't provide Grora with the solace she sought. Believing there must've been more, the angel flipped through pages as she continued to go over the rest of the journal. Analyzing a book this thick—well over a thousand pages, in fact—would've taken hours, though the lady only needed to rely on the table of contents for locating any important material. While Hastur's personal thoughts were kept in the back, plus they were private opinions and ideas only he could know about, Grora figured there wasn't much harm in checking them out too. After all, some words of wisdom from him in writing could help._

 _There were several entries she skimmed through, each detailing Hastur's notions on what's been going on in the world and how he planned on changing things for the better. She did not find much of anything that helped her, though Grora managed to locate an allusion to herself near the end of the most recent logs. She read plenty in the other accounts too, but this one pertained to the cat demons she slew a week ago. Scanning over it, she caught sight of a remark that baffled her to no end because it meant Hastur distrusted her already. "Grora's empathy for those cat demons is a weakness, one I am fully aware of as I know she displayed it many times before like all the other members of my organization. To test her loyalty, I shall leave this journal open and available. She will read it eventually, for I shall purposely reveal the truth of the order's existence to her. Thus I shall determine whether she is loyal to me or not; thereby completing the experiment I had made."_

" _W-what is this…?" Grora asked quietly in disbelief, unable to believe her boss whom she loved dearly was thinking about tossing her aside. She had given her all to True Light by ensuring their goals of reinstating traditional values and beliefs would come to fruition. She did many things that were downright horrible such as torturing victims and murdering them while keeping all of it a secret from the authorities by serving as a spy close to Etihw, Kcalb, and Wodahs. Grora would have assassinated the latter two and helped secure passage into Blancblack Castle so she and her comrades in True Light could really usher in true light by killing everyone in a guerilla operation. Yet that remark was beginning to tear her feelings apart. "H-he d-doesn't trust me…? H-he knew all along how I-I felt regarding our victims…?" She felt short of breath. "A-an experiment?" This last comment about the experiment bewildered her, so Grora turned to the next page as indicated to read what was there. Her eyes widened in horrified shock as she nearly dropped the journal on the desk. "N-no…n-no, i-it c-can't be…" the poor angel whispered in fright, staggering out of the chair and away from the desk. "H-he really…W-we were…" Grora shut her eyes and ran out._

" _You finished reading it," Hastur commented blandly, already standing in the center aisle. Either he just arrived, or he'd been observing her for some time from afar in shadows. His remark was rhetorical, an expression of his awareness pertaining to the journal entries he wrote purposely for her to find and read over. From what he wrote, he planned that from the very beginning. "Now, I shall give you the only two options at your disposal; choose carefully, for your fate depends—"_

" _Why?!" she shouted, interrupting him to try and understand his motive for using the order for his own goals. "How could you do such a thing, Hastur?! W-we're your comrades, your allies in this endeavor! S-surely that means something to you?! T-that we're a team fighting for tradition in a world that has left it behind?! P-please, s-say it isn't so, Hastur! P-please, tell me, Hastur!"_

" _As this is the continuation of your fall, I shall tell you, for I have already decreed you will die by my hands just like the rest of the so-called comrades you speak of," Hastur spat out bitterly in a cold tone of voice, not even bothering to try and conceal his designs from her. "Those entries you read speak the truth, Grora, just as I had planned. I knew somebody among this organization would eventually crack under the pressure of the things we do, hence why I prepared drafts of the very same message you've read so I would only have to insert the name of whoever cracked. I only had to wait for the individual's weakness to become more evident than another's weakness before deciding who would get to know the truth. You were chosen for this reason, plus you've become a perfect candidate for it because of how you were placed near Etihw, Kcalb, and Wodahs on orders from me. These two reasons alone served to cement you as the angel I selected to know the truth."_

" _W-what are you s-saying Hastur?!" Grora demanded, stepping back in fearful confusion._

" _I'm saying, Grora, that True Light was never meant to usher in the traditional beliefs we used to fight for in our old world. That world was just as putrid as this one is. The real reason for True Light's existence was not to revive those beliefs as you've read in my journal, but to become my personal experiment on the presence of evil in everybody else except for me alone. By hiring a plethora of disgruntled angels who believed Kcalb, Wodahs, the demons, and Fallen Angels didn't seek peace, I intended to gather their hatred for them together to form a cesspool of darkness. This was entirely successful as everything went according to plan, for I had ordered you and the others to go out and take your darkness out on this region because it the only sample size needed to show and demonstrate that even if peace exists between angels and demons, there is always darkness. I proved this theory correct by using you and everyone else as both my pawns and guinea pigs since the goal of this experiment was to both show and demonstrate that I alone am the only pure person in existence. I alone deserve to be a God; nobody else does because everyone in this existence isn't perfect like me as they are all inferior to me in each and every way and aspect that exists. You too are included in this as well, Grora, for you are the same as everybody else in this putrid existence."_

" _B-but why?! W-what you're saying doesn't make any sense, Hastur! I-it's insane!"_

" _It makes perfect sense because I am the one saying it, just as I am the one planning it and shall continue to execute it, Grora. Nobody can disprove it for two reasons: one, I simply need to torture and kill those who try to disprove it; and two, my word alone is law and pure fact. Nobody can argue with it because they will not argue with it as I shall not allow them to argue. It is a truth I am going to make into a reality once I finally become the God of Existence," he explained coldly._

" _W-wha…" Grora was completely bewildered out of her mind. "T-the God of Existence?"_

" _That's right, Grora, I shall become the God of Existence and create a new reality, one of my design which nobody will have a say in because they are unworthy of deciding how I shall rule over the new existence. This existence was already in the works long before I was born; however, this current existence took its place instead. I shall destroy this existence and recreate it the way I plan on making it because my vision is the proper one, the existence that was always meant to be. Everybody from this existence shall be cast aside, thrown into a hellish nonexistence where they'll be tortured forevermore throughout the rest of their disgusting existences. Anyone I create in that new existence shall cater to my whims alone, for I shall enslave everyone simply to torture and kill them solely for the sake of proving they are, and always will be because they always shall be, very inferior to me, the only perfect being in this existence and the one I shall produce for myself alone."_

" _B-but, t-that's insane!" Grora protested against the idea, the unfathomable lengths within vast distances Hastur wanted to cross sounding quite impossible in her mind. That was because it was certainly impossible. Hastur could've become a God, but every other deity would not have let him get any farther than that. There was supposed to be a Heavenly Council of deities that oversaw divine and holy affairs, not a single deity who would govern others like a malevolent dictator. The image of Hastur as one was exactly what came to Grora's mind as she voiced that thought directly to him. "Y-you'll be the same as a tyrannical dictator ruling with an iron fist that you will actually become one! You're an angel like me, Hastur! We're supposed to stand for light, not dark evil!"_

" _I do stand for light," Hastur retorted nonchalantly to her. "Specifically my own, the light that shall belong to me alone as I decreed because only I am worthy of it. Nobody else is as they're all imperfect, flawed due to their petty existences. Think of it as the light at the end of a dark tunnel one must traverse through in order to reach it. Yet that tunnel is endless and shall always be dark because it will be the nonexistent hell everybody in this existence and the one I'll create shall exist in just because I alone say so. The light at the end is and always was me, Grora; I am the light, so quite naturally it exists only for me alone since I am indeed the only, sole light in every existence. Everybody else, including you, Grora, are impure wretches born of shit in darkness; I am not."_

" _So everyone else means virtually nothing to you?!" the angelic woman barked at him, her anger bubbling to the top as it slowly began to replace her confusion. "You'll use anybody at your disposal to accomplish your own sick, twisted objectives and fulfill those damn goals of yours?!"_

" _Exactly, Grora; that is the only use you and everybody else who exists has. You're all just filthy stepping stones I shall use and obliterate through painful torture to murder you all so I could accomplish my goal of becoming the God of Existence to usher in the light as I alone see fit. That's the only way everything can be perfect, for I alone am the only perfect being in existence who shall make it all happen by making it so the way everything was meant to be by my perfect decree."_

" _What about your family, friends, and allies?! Are we all just garbage to you too?!"_

" _Once again you are perfectly correct, Grora," Hastur replied coldly. "I'll kill them all."_

" _And what of me, huh?! What about me, Hastur?!" Grora demanded. "Will I die too?! Are you so insanely cruel that you'll dispose of me?!" Tears formed in her eyes. "I loved you, Hastur!"_

" _True, I was aware of your feelings towards me, I always was," he conceded the argument on that by revealing his awareness of her love for him. Yet he also began to openly insult it as well. "Yet that is one of many reasons why you're tainted, Grora. Your love is impure, filthy, disgusting, and downright vile. Love is a putrid emotion, including your love, Grora. It shan't exist in the new existence I'll create, just as yours doesn't exist either solely because it's malevolent and evil. Your love is twisted, Grora, just like you and everybody else in existence. That is why you must die."_

 _Tears poured down Grora's cheeks as he said those horrible words to her, slandering her love because he knew she loved him, that she believed he was the hero their world needed for it to be set on the right path. For far too long she'd taken in his ruse, deceived by the very love she had for him. Now though…now his subterfuge was no longer a ploy. Hastur's revelation was just some demented ideal of narcissism about him seizing power as a deity to shape existence as he pleased. He didn't care about any and all opposition because it seemed he'd say it would've been inferior. Proclaiming himself a perfect being was one thing, but betraying those close to him was horrible, outrageous even because he spouted nothing more than insane drivel about how being perfect was the reason why he alone deserved to be a God. "S-so…" Grora murmured out an inquiry to Hastur for further clarification on these matters. "You'll eventually kill everyone for your sick ideal. You would even turn your blades against the woman who loved you without hesitation and care?"_

" _Yes, precisely the point, Grora," he conceded the point once again. "But first, the inquiry I was about to propose to you prior to your own insane nonsense. Which will it be, Grora: continue to serve willingly as my slave until I end your wretched existence by painfully torturing you to the eventual death of your disgusting life, or attempt to pitifully flail against me in battle until death?"_

" _You have already given me my answer…" the angelic lady growled, her head still tipped down as she had hunched over in intense rage. There was a war axe on one of the pews which had belonged to another member of True Light. Although Grora wasn't skilled with this particular sort of weapon, she nevertheless ran forward and seized it from where it rested and aimed the weapon at Hastur. "HOW DARE YOU CLAIM MY LOVE IS VILE, YOU SICK SACK OF SHIT! YOU'VE NO RIGHT TO SAY SUCH THINGS ABOUT EVERYONE, YOUR COMRADES, AND ME! I WILL END YOU RIGHT HERE AND NOW, YOU BASTARD! I WON'T LET YOU LIVE TO SEE YOUR DREAM OF BECOMING A GOD REALIZED AS I'M PUTTING YOU INTO THE GROUND!" In an instant she was in front of him, sprinting at such a speed that hardly anyone could've seen her. As an archer, one of the attributes of her class was speed which enabled her to cross distances she would've taken longer to get through as another class. She also had good endurance too, and she made use of this other attribute for territorial advantages with enough strength to wield a bow and blades effectively. With these attributes, Grora was able to cover the gap between her and Hastur fairly well in a couple of seconds. "BURN IN HELL, YOU DAMN, UNGRATEFUL MONSTER!"_

 _Attempting to bring the war axe down on his face, Grora's facial expression shifted at once from rage to shock as she watched Hastur parry the blow by moving his arm quicker than she had seen. He had unsheathed one of his katanas, the hilt gripped firmly in his hand as he raised it into the air at such a fast pace for his strike to cleave the war axe's blade in two. It spun around once, though the angelic man sheathed it again. During this process he dealt a severe punch to Grora's abdominal region and let her fall to the floor. With a swift kick to her face, he caused some blood to be drawn from her nose as she was sent careening backwards onto her backside. Stepping over to her, Hastur brought his foot down hard on her face to stomp on it before heading into the back office. Moments later he returned while she was crying in pain and anger due to his revelation and the harm he inflicted upon her. "Here," he commanded her in a cold tone of voice while throwing the journal onto her. "Go ahead and turn this in to the Goddess and Devil, and be sure to tell them you were heavily involved in our affairs as well. This and your testimony will serve as evidence of what's to come. Etihw and Kcalb can try all they like to stop me, but their efforts are already futile because they are inferior to me like you and everyone else. I will kill them both along with everyone in this putrid filth you call a world, and then I shall move on to mercilessly slaughter other deities and Devils so I can finally claim my rightful place as the God of Existence. Whether you decide to turn yourself in with this or not is your decision, Grora; however, know this: you are always going to be my pawn because every action you take for or against me benefits me alone since you'll just continue to follow the grand scheme of my design regardless of whatever path you take. Whatever may come, whether you like it or not, know that you will always be a tool I use, break, and discard."_

" _H-Hastur…" Grora choked through bitter tears, blood covering her face. "D-damn you. Damn you to hell, Hastur…" Her vision was blurry and she felt too weak and upset to talk further._

" _Go ahead and fight against me, Grora. Just know you're my tool and I will break you. An angel can only fly so high before falling forever, never to rise again because the angel has fallen."_

…

Her lone eye was shut tight, those memories playing through her head over and over as she retained the imprint they had left upon her. Even after she had declared she'd abandon everything that pertained to True Light, Hastur's return to their world revived everything. The feelings of her anger and despair when she discovered the truth of what they were really doing for him were more painful than when he was around. Yet the memories started before he came back, so perhaps they were a premonition for what would have come and what would have been uncovered. Grora didn't know, but she didn't care; all that mattered to her was revenge against Hastur for what he did since she wanted to stop him from making his goals realized and fulfilled. At least, that was what Grora wanted at first, but now she'd undertake a different kind of revenge. Before she wanted to kill him or let him be charged for crimes so long as he suffered; now she wanted to deliver justice on him. Although enacting justice would have still been revenge, Grora's motives had changed because he had kidnapped Ater. She had killed the poor girl's parents and Ater and Arbus didn't receive justice for it, so instead Grora would undertake the rescue mission to save Ater as atonement for her sin.

It was only right because of what she'd done, everything she'd done to those poor girls for a long time. Killing their parents and abusing them over the loss of her eye…Grora sighed, feeling deep remorse as she was guilty of both crimes in addition to the countless others she committed in True Light. Opening her eye, she stared at the suit of Mithril armor resting on the mannequin she'd built to store it on. Walking forward as the memories replayed themselves again, the angel reached a hand forward and pressed it against the cuirass to brush it while thinking. For the past few days, Grora had nightmares of her past, specifically her time in True Light with Hastur. The nightmares that hit her hard pertained to the last murders she committed—those of the cat demons' parents—and the hated revelation thrust upon her by Hastur. However, they were also her memories of those dark moments which was why she could never get rid of them and always saw them while awake. She hated those memories because they were the reminder that tortured her in life…yet now there was a different reason why she had them, one she willingly chose to make as it was her decision.

Grora shut her eye again and breathed deeply, using those memories to drive her onwards. They no longer terrified her even if she still felt guilty, though they were pushing her to atonement. Atonement, the only thing she could achieve to settle her guilt by doing something that would end her pain for good: rescuing Ater and slaying Hastur to stop him once and for all. It was only right. She'd worn this suit of armor when she killed the cat demons' parents, but now she'd take it up to fulfill the righteous cause. "An angel can only fly so high before falling forever, never to rise again because the angel has fallen…" she repeated those words he'd spoken to her that time. How those words reflected her choices in life and how said choices affected her with the impact upon her. An angel could've fallen without a chance to rise again…unless it was possible. "Why have I fallen?" Grora asked herself, opening her eye to stare at the armor with nonchalant determination. "So that I could pick myself up again to rise once more," she then answered as the door to her room opened.

"A true statement, Grora," Etihw remarked, walking into the archer's bedroom to stand by the angel as they both looked at the armor together. "A lesson we could all learn from as it implies we must keep going to give everything our all." The Goddess ignored the irony in the fact she did not give her all to work she did as she preferred to give up on it. Yet this wasn't the time for that because she had a world to protect, and she'd give everything to making sure the Gray Garden and all the people who inhabited it were safe. Although she wasn't going to join Kcalb on the militant expedition to the Sun Heaven, she and Wodahs were staying back in the Gray Garden for that very reason which the Devil agreed to. Staring at the Mithril armor, Etihw felt the need to ask Grora a question arise and put it forth. "Is this your choice of armor for the upcoming assault, Grora?"

"Yes, it is," Grora replied somberly, yet still with the determination. "I wore it when I killed their parents and dozens of other innocent people…it is only right I wear this again to redeem it."

"For what?" the Goddess continued to inquire. "It did not commit such heinous acts. Only you did, though you've more than repented for your past mistakes by learning from those sins."

"I did learn from them, yes, though I have not repented…not fully repented."

"You seek to give them justice," Etihw commented rhetorically, to which Grora nodded as the Goddess turned to face her. "Though I would prefer you let the man live so he can face charges in a trial, I shall no longer prevent you from claiming the justice you wish to give those girls."

"Fair enough," Grora conceded after taking a deep breath, glad that restriction was lifted.

"My only condition is that you take what I am about to give you. If you'll follow me, I'm going to present you with something," the Goddess instructed her and began to walk out. Looking at Etihw as she watched her leave, Grora stayed back for a couple moments before she eventually decided to go with her. With the angel in tow, Etihw led her to the elevator and pressed one of the buttons to open the door. Stepping inside with Grora, she then pressed a button for the top floor as the elevator began to climb towards it. "We're almost there, Grora, you'll receive it very soon."

"Receive what, might I ask?" the angel inquired, wondering what Etihw had to give her. It seemed like it could've been a charm of some sort, a blessing the Goddess would bestow upon her.

"You'll see once we get there," Etihw told her and exited with Grora once they reached the top floor. Taking her subordinate up the stairs and entering her bedroom, the Goddess gestured for the archer to stand attentively while she opened her closet door. Walking inside, she emerged with a handle in one hand so she could pull an armor stand much like the mannequin Grora made out a moment later. The suit of armor adorning it consisted of: a cuirass constructed purely from a divine source of materials and ore that only resided in the Deities' Capital, the heaven governed by Justim; a long combat skirt that reached the ankles; and gauntlets like the cuirass. Grora wasn't an expert on foreign resources, but she knew well enough the armor Etihw had was entirely produced with such materials, giving it a heavenly glow unlike normal enchanted armor she knew of which didn't possess a glow. Light radiating from the cuirass to the combat skirt was a mixture of two different colors: heavenly gold and heavenly white, both signifying Etihw's status as a deity.

"This is your armor from the war, Lady Etihw…" the angel observed through her widened eye, surprised that the Goddess was showing it to her up close and personal. The only times she'd seen Etihw wear it were on battlefields they both were at. Grora was too far away at times because she had other duties to perform as a scout, though she did catch glimpses of it whenever Etihw had led the charge in battle on some occasions. Seeing it this close right now was so surprising to her.

"Yes, this is indeed my armor from the war," the Goddess confirmed that statement as she began to check the armor for any kinks and rust that she easily repaired with her magic. Once any repairs were finished with some finishing touches added to it, she turned back to Grora and started speaking again. "It's a relatively light set of armor, lighter than even the lightest set recruits use."

Grora felt her jaw drop even further down that it already was, her eye bulging out from the socket as it suddenly occurred to her. She took a step back, shocked to learn that Etihw thought so highly of her even after what she'd done to citizens of the Gray Garden in the past. Etihw showed her this armor because she wanted Grora to wear it. It was such a prestigious honor…and yet…the principle didn't suit Grora. "I-I'm sorry, Lady Etihw, I can't accept it. It's just too much for me to bear, and I've sinned against the Gray Garden; I'm not worthy of wearing it," she politely declined.

"You do not have a choice in the matter, Grora," Etihw spoke up and raised a hand, letting her magic transfer her armor onto Grora. It disappeared from the stand and reappeared on the angel as she looked down at herself in the armor while staring at her hands in the gauntlets. "This is my armor, though I am bestowing it upon you for the duration of the expedition. Nobody else but you shall adorn it in combat since this is my gift to you, the blessing I wish to bestow upon you. You have done wrong by our world in the past, though you already more than repented. All I ask is that you wear it with pride, knowing that I am trusting you to bring Ater back home safely."

"Lady Etihw…"

"I would not have allowed you to use it if I believed your intentions were any different, but I can see you have changed, Grora," Etihw went on in her brief speech. "You've earned the right."

"But I—" Grora tried to protest further, though Etihw cut her off again.

"No buts, Grora, I've already made up my mind. I want you to use the armor when you see Hastur and fight him. With it you'll have a much better edge than when you first went up against him after your confession. This armor is like a lot of other sets other deities use, and I've calibrated the enchantment on it to fit the needs of whoever wears it. For instance, it will help fortify your skills in swordsmanship and archery and produce a divine aura serving as a shield that will protect your from fierce magical attacks of a high level like those wielded by a Devil. Though you need to activate the shield manually by uttering a single worded incantation only a deity knows of, you can make use of the other benefits it provides, including tapping into its magic for health."

Grora sighed, knowing it was futile to argue against the Goddess' decision. Etihw gave this to her, so the angel had to accept the armor and deck herself in it as such. Inspecting this armor in greater detail, she noted it really was quite light and didn't weigh anything at all. She felt light, so much so in fact that the archer must've been lighter than even a feather. The material used to make it was unfamiliar to her, though a glance at the cuirass from this close suggested it must've been a lot stronger than diamond armor, the strongest of angelic armors Grora knew of. The cuirass looked dark blue in color, whereas the combat skirt was black and adorned with small diamonds sewn on it for a dazzling radiance emanating from them and various other crystals added to the patterns. A well-crafted suit of armor this was, for the craftsmanship was literally that of a deity's handiwork. Even the attached armguards and gauntlets were decorated in similar patterns, plus both sides were outfitted with the brand of Etihw's heaven from the Colored Rainbow World: clouds with a divine city in the center and two rainbows sprouting from said city. "It really is impressive and too much."

"I shall not argue my decision any further, Grora. You are wearing it."

"I know," Grora murmured, looking up at the Goddess with a small smile that hadn't been seen in days. "And thank you, I truly appreciate it." Shutting her eye, she bowed respectfully before Etihw to show her gratitude. "You have my thanks, Lady Etihw. I shall endeavor to do this blessing justice by utilizing it to the fullest extent of its abilities in the coming invasion of the Sun Heaven."

"You are truly most welcome, Grora," Etihw replied with a smile of her own. "I am glad it is being put to good use. The name of this armor is Siri's Iridescence in honor of the first Goddess in the Rainbow Heaven, our old world's heaven. Siri was the one who first made the old world for the humans to live in under protection from her and the angels under her command. Of course, the demons were still present as those who went against her for power became the first demons in the Colored Rainbow World. Nevertheless, she was very fair towards all those with and against her."

"Kind of like you, Lady Etihw?" Grora asked while the Goddess stepped closer for a better inspection of how her subordinate fit in the armor. "Well, not to the same extent back then."

"I suppose you could say that, though there were other deities in our world before me, and they've made better comparisons to her than I ever did. Even now, I hardly compare to Siri."

"Well, in any case it's a fine suit of armor," the angel complimented it. "I'm not expecting a weapon from you since the only times I've seen you use one was when you wielded a staff. That was your weapon of choice in the war until it was broken by Sir Devil in the final battle, right?" It felt good to reminisce on the past sometimes, particularly when it was to learn about history.

"You remember that quite well, Grora," Etihw commented. "It's a shame I don't have that anymore, otherwise I'd provide it to you as well. Then again, you probably wouldn't utilize it since you've already got your bows and arrows with the blades you wield too. Still, the armor's enough."

" _It certainly is, though a bit more could prove to be helpful in the long run."_

The two ladies blinked in surprise, wondering where that voice came from. Although Etihw didn't recognize who had said that, Grora certainly did as she looked towards the window with the Goddess as Etihw spoke up to address the speaker. "Who goes there?" she asked in a calm, if quite cautious tone. "Please, show yourself. Reveal to us who you are and why you've come here." The Goddess expected somebody to fly through the window, but Grora only smiled warmly as she was aware their visitor had no need to use the window, let alone the door like a normal person—a living person. While she hadn't been expecting her to show up, she was glad the other lady certainly did.

" _As you wish, Lady Etihw,"_ the speaker spoke again and began to manifest into a spiritual form before them. Despite her incorporeal state, the angel in front of them was quite present before their eyes as Etihw's eyes widened in surprise upon seeing someone she once knew standing there, somebody who had once helped her and another angel conceal a secret that had only been revealed last year. She instinctively took a step back, though consciously took two steps forward to see her.

"R-Robin…?" Etihw whispered in surprised shock, not fully believing her eyes yet. "I-it's you…? B-but how, I-I…I-I thought you died because of Germain. Are you…a ghost?"

Robin shut her eyes and smiled. _"Boo,"_ she teased playfully before beginning the serious business of why she had shown herself at this moment. _"I suppose you could say that, Lady Etihw. I am certainly dead, though it isn't impossible for me to exist in this state as a spirit."_ Watching the Goddess open her mouth to try and say something, perhaps an apology for her death because of the conspiracy surrounding Dynol Peiriant, the ghostly angel merely shut her eyes again and raised a hand to quiet her. _"We can discuss the properties of my spiritual presence later. For now, I have come to give Grora blessing of my own before she leaves for the Sun Heaven."_

"You've got one for me too?" Grora sounded surprised, yet welcomed whatever the present was since it would be coming from Robin, one of the best friends she ever had. "I didn't know the dead could bestow the living with blessings and gifts. First time I've ever heard of this happening."

" _They could at times, this instance being one of those occasions. Now hold out your hands, Grora,"_ Robin instructed her as the living angel willingly did as she was told. Pressing both hands close to her chest, the ethereal angel pulled an orb out of nowhere and let it materialize within her hands. The light glowed brighter and took shape as a bow of elvish design which widened Grora's eye in surprise since she recognized this bow once belonged to her friend. _"There, that'll do."_

"This is your bow…" Grora murmured as she slowly accepted the weapon in her own grasp and ran a finger along the craftsmanship. It was truly beautiful, a rare sight to behold. This was not any ordinary bow, for the elven bow was a mixture of moonstone and elvish materials constructed together to produce this fascinating work of art. "It's…it's so beautiful and pretty, Robin."

" _Thanks, Grora, I'm sure you could put Sylvan's Eye to good use with Siri's Iridescence."_

"I will most definitely use it on your behalf, Robin, you've got my word," Grora vowed.

Robin smiled at her old friend. _"Good, that's all I'm asking for. I won't be able to use this ever again in my state, though I would love for you to keep it as a memento of our friendship. I can still see you in your dreams, Grora, but feel free to keep this anyway as your inheritance from me. Just make sure it doesn't get thrown back into the castle's museum again to collect dust."_ The two of them chuckled at that last bit, thankful for the small bit of humor to alleviate some tension.

"Don't worry," Grora added, "I won't; it's not returning to that collection anytime soon."

" _Great, snatching it from there for you took a good chunk of energy, so I'd prefer for it to be utilized the way it was meant to. And one last thing, Grora,"_ Robin finished, ending with a final request she wanted her friend to fulfill for her. _"Put an arrow in Hastur's head for us both, okay?"_

Grora nodded with a smile, saluting her friend as Robin began to disappear. "By your order, Robin, I shall fulfill your command to the best of my abilities," she promised her, feeling prepared enough to march into the Sun Heaven to slay Hastur. She had to stop him and save Ater from him.

…

 **Long chapter this time, though I promise the story is really closing in on the end. I've said before it was, though I didn't expect it'd continue to be this long. Still, I'm definitely up to the point where the Gray Garden and Corporate Heaven will be invading the Sun Heaven. I'll cover that in the next chapter, so look forward to it as I'll get right to work real soon.**

 **Also, I had to look up a plethora of things implemented in this chapter on Wikipedia. Since I've already finished writing this bulk of a chapter, I'll not take up too much space and shall instead point you to the things with a brief description of what they are. First, there's a style of architecture popular in seventeenth century Europe called baroque architecture. The Sun Inquisition is a bastille, a prison that was based on the actual Bastille in Paris which was in fact used as a prison. Lampads come from Greek mythology as Underworld nymphs; they bear torches and are associates of Hecate, a Greek titan goddess of witchcraft. Iris also comes from Greek mythology as she is characteristic of rainbows and is a goddess of seas and the sky; her name backwards is Siri to fit in with the Gray Garden's non-canon lore. As for the other part of the name of Etihw's armor, iridescence is an actual property of things in which the color of surfaces seems to change depending on the angles of either view, or illumination. Sylvan is a term denoting a connotation with woodlands and forests. As I said, you can find more information on all of these things on Wikipedia if you're interested.**

 **As for one of the dialogue lines Grora mentioned in this chapter, it is based on one of the lines in Batman Begins. Robin's bow, Sylvan's Eye, is an elven bow based on elven bows from Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. I'll put up disclaimers for both of these things below.**

 **I hope you enjoy reading this as I enjoy writing it.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Batman Begins; it is owned by Christopher Nolan. I do not own the Elder Scrolls series as it is owned by Bethesda.**


	28. Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Sun Heaven

They stood atop a plateau overlooking a valley not too far away from where they set up the main camp after moving it from the original location as per Emalf's advice. Throughout the entire campaign, they've been migrating from one space to another while taking advantage of the bloody civil war between Igls Unth and Hastur. Their army hadn't remained in one spot forever, constantly on the move to avoid losing valuable troops from each of the regiments. Although the factions that participated in this campaign—that was to say, namely all of them—complained they weren't even seeing much action aside from minor skirmishes they emerged victorious in, Ivlis enticed the army with promises that the skirmishes were contributing to dwindling one side's forces. While Hastur's army was losing troops due to the tactics and superiority of Ivlis' numbers, they hadn't encountered any of Igls Unth's soldiers as of yet until today when scouts brought word of the angel's status.

According to them, Igls Unth led a small platoon of ninety-seven soldiers, all of whom did not appear to be veterans as they seemed to be mere recruits, against a superior force of sun angels. The opposing leader was Leihsuk, Hastur's second-in-command who warped onto the battlefield's woody terrain, ready to lead Igls Unth into a deadly trap. She knew exactly what she leading those poor recruits on her side into, though apparently she didn't care because she purposely strode right into Leihsuk's trap on purpose. Her reason for that being the ideal of charging into the fray without concern for any sort of strategy because of their belief in the strength of their own arms. Maybe it could have also been said that their blind obedience to Siralos contributed to that as well. Whatever the cause of their reckless foolishness was, Igls Unth's decision sparked an uprising within half of her unit. Forty-eight troops rebelled against the decision at the last minute, forcing Igls Unth to use the rest of her loyalists against them in a heated conflict leaving only twenty-seven survivors from her side. After that, she literally led her remaining soldiers straight into the trap and lost right away.

The scouts who hid themselves via camouflage among the smokescreen Leihsuk's soldiers initiated to confuse Igls Unth's troops and demoralize them reported that over half of her force had turned against her, revealing themselves to be spies for Hastur and Leihsuk. More recruits entered the fray as well, killing off the remainder of her side; however, these recruits who had once joined her in the fight against Hastur had turned their coats a while prior to this conflict. That led to their deaths at her hands and the hands of several recruits still on her side before they too were slain due to the spies attacking them. A few spies died in the skirmish while others were wounded, yet these casualties did not hinder Leihsuk's advance as they slaughtered their own wounded while pursuing the fleeing Igls Unth. She had been the only survivor of her foiled advance and was now running, having received several nasty wounds over the course of her two skirmishes in this conflict. Blood was trickling from those injuries, though she managed to heal them as best she could to withdraw.

The three of them could see her now, sprinting across the valley with Leihsuk's soldiers in pursuit while firing a wide variety of holy spells in their arsenal at her. Igls Unth was able to dodge some of these attacks, though others made their impact upon hitting their mark—her—or anywhere around the Commander-in-Chief. She still had plenty of divine energy in her veins from the sun's light, but unfortunately she was using up what little remained of her reserves. No longer wielding her longswords of sun power since she needed to save up energy for healing spells, the poor woman was reduced to being a simple self-healer running from combat. Her feet carried her blindly across the valley, taking her this way and that as she zigzagged throughout the terrain dodging the attacks.

Pulling the hood of his cloak over his head, the flame demon stepped forward to approach Ivlis. "Seems like an ugly mess she got herself into. Should we begin the assault right now, sir?"

Ivlis merely held up a gauntleted hand and smirked, knowing he had prepared himself well for this battle. Decked in hellish flame armor with a face-plated helm held under his other arm, the Flame Devil gave off the appearance of being a juggernaut of war. "A few moments more, Emalf. Our foes are nearly in the position we are waiting for. In just a few seconds, we shall come at them from two fronts: their left and behind them. Our pincer attack shall force Leihsuk to leave most of his forces behind as he either stays with them or sends a detachment out for Igls Unth. He only has around seven hundred troops in his disposal for this fight, so conflict from two sides will hinder a critical component of his retreat back to his headquarters. We're in between both him and there."

"Yet the nearest portal is a good distance to his right," Lenny commented to put an opinion of his forth regarding the Flame Devil's plan of assault. "If I'm to get there at once and he starts a withdrawal in that direction before the portal's open, they might destroy the beacon. Granted, he'll probably send that detachment after Igls Unth while still keeping most of his force behind to fight you, yet he could also send another detachment after me to prepare a means of retreat if he loses."

Ivlis' smirk never fell, and he merely chuckled at the former sun angel's notion as he closed his eyes briefly. "Fool, you think I don't know that? Why do you think I instructed Emalf's unit to increase the amount of troops on their right flank? We have been over this already, my treasonous associate: though I am enemies with the White Goddess and Black Devil of the Gray Garden, I am willing to accept whatever aid they and the Smoking God produce from their respective ends if the aid will help me crush the Sun Heaven for my own interests." He opened his eyes, quickly waving his hand down to give a signal that it was time for their advance. "Now, the both of you shall warp to your respective positions on the battlefield. You have your roles, now fulfill them at once."

Emalf bowed before his superior. "As you wish, sir," he remarked before warping away.

Lenny merely nodded. "But of course, Ivlis, I'll get right to my contribution now."

Once the former sun angel warped out, the Flame Devil put on his faceplate and smiled as he drew two particular staff-like weapons from the straps on his back. The two staves had orbs on them held firmly in place by four claw-like pieces attached to the staves. These orbs were very red of a very dark shade, their texture being pretty rough compared to the sleek design of his armor. It was a shade similar to the orbs and was made up of chainmail and ebony for a speedy, yet defensive style of combat. Clanking the staves together while applying his magic into them, axe heads began to materialize on them alongside the heads of spears. His weapons were similar to halberds, though the design was inspired by a weapon wielded by the Queen herself, a similar staff that grew out of a fan and could become a scythe, lance, and staff all in one weapon. He liked the idea of that which he asked her about when they first met, and with GriRea's permission to produce the two weapons in his grasp, both dubbed the Twin Wings after his old wings, he had Kaen make them for him.

Watching his troops rise from their positions hidden around the valley, both on the left and behind Leihsuk's unit in two different formations that produced the shape of a crescent moon, the Flame Devil warped in front of the left unit and raised his weapons for the charge. "All units, move in at once!" he commanded, leading the charge forward as his demonic army advanced upon their foes. All the while he gave further orders through an earpiece that had a wireless connection which enabled him and his force to communicate quickly without interruption. Having named his side of the army here after different fronts, he selected the two on either side of his center front first. "West front, blockade them from the north and send a quarter of men after Igls Unth! East front, diverge from the main assault and join up with Emalf's assault!" Hearing voices from lieutenants leading those fronts complying with his instructions, Ivlis issued a final order for his central front to follow with one additional command for each front to heed. "Central front, stay on course; lieutenants are in charge of tactics, though plant warrior units in front of our mages and conjurors so their spells and incantations are uninterrupted by any attacks from the opposing force. Slaughter them at will!"

Again he heard compliance from his lieutenants, grateful they agreed with his orders. They came from two different factions that usually caused trouble for him, hence why he established the fair process of screening each and every candidate for leadership positions in his military. It helped reduce some of the friction by avoiding the implication of playing favorites. That way anyone from any faction could acquire a position based on how skilled they were. With emphasis on skill alone instead of loyalty and personal backgrounds, Ivlis successfully averted revolts from the factions as each one of them sought to build up their own militaries. He allowed them to, and allowed them a good opportunity to place specific candidates through the screening process while keeping it at the minimum of three candidates per faction. Although this might not have annulled all the tension in the Flame Underworld, at least it satisfied the factions enough to avoid revolts and conflict between each of them because Ivlis did his best to unify them even though the factions were reluctant for a unified underworld. Still, it was a good method for ensuring they stayed loyal to him for a time.

Observing Emalf's own assault begin at once with his Commander-in-Chief's western front in position to join forces with the Flame Devil's own eastern front, Ivlis continued to rush towards Leihsuk's militant force with his Twin Wings gripped firmly at his sides. Catching sight of Emalf leading the charge from his end with an estoc in his right hand for slashing and blocking alongside the stiletto he used for quick thrusts to assassinate enemy soldiers in combat, he grinned and knew the battle would already be decided by their significantly larger numbers and well-made tactics. It was quite a shoo-in, for they would most likely be successful in their endeavor against Leihsuk.

Hearing the demonic charge from his left and behind him as well, the sun angel merely cast quick glances in those directions before raising his arm to stop the advance to issue orders. "Forty of you shall follow Igls Unth to wherever she chooses to hide! The remaining six hundred fifty are to hold this ground against the Flame Devil! Fear not even if our numbers are low, for our cause's righteousness shall secure an easy victory over him! Three hundred twenty-five protect the rear; I shall man the other half! Form phalanxes against our foes and let them fall against our might!" His soldiers complied with the order, rushing to their respective positions and preparing the defense.

Seeing the sun angels under Leihsuk's command block their advance from two directions, Emalf chuckled and began to give orders into his own earpiece. "Right front, get into position and slam them from their weakened flanks! Force them to break rank and establish minor defenses for a weaker guard!" The lieutenant heading that unit complied, leading the soldiers towards the right where Lenny was already flying over the rest of this valley's hilly terrain towards the portal zone. Acting as the serpent of soldiers slithering along the line, the flame demon army soon constructed an impenetrable ring with Ivlis' western regiment encircling the remaining sun angels of Leihsuk's entire unit to join up with Emalf's eastern unit. Using this tactic, the entire military had the angels completely surrounded while having slaughtered the forty troops who attempted to break off after Igls Unth. Ivlis had well over fifty thousand soldiers in his military, though only twenty-thousand were present for this siege with a fourth of them breaking away on purpose according to his orders so they could take up the pursuit of Igls Unth. Emalf smiled, glad the strategy paid off. "Got them!"

Faced with an overwhelming defeat, the sun angels began to quiver and look around at one another and also towards the demons surrounding them. Some of them attempted to break away to flee, but realized they were utterly trapped with no way of escape available to them. "Do not falter! They will have to advance!" Leihsuk called out and produced an area of effect shield via a spell of light magic. It sprang to life from his place in their center, rippling all over with fiery energy from the sun itself. Unfortunately, the spell wasn't strong and Leihsuk knew this well because it required direct links to the sun so it could be maintained effectively at its fullest potential. A barrier as weak as it was would not hold out for long, but he was also aware that time was of the essence in addition to demons rushing forward into it. This shield was imbued with enough power to exorcise them by killing them if they so much as touched it, plus Leihsuk received word from Hastur himself that the Gray Garden's former angel would arrive with reinforcements. "Their strategy means nothing, for it cannot hold up against our united phalanx! Come, unify into one and defend this point from our villainous enemies from the Flame Underworld as they fail, falling before our mighty valor!"

Tired of listening to him speak, some of the demons became antsy and prepared to run into the barrier anyway. However, they were halted in their tracks by a massive fireball shot up within the air. Lowering the staff he wielded to shoot it off, Ivlis simply held an arm out to stop the army from advancing any further. "Hold your ground just a tad bit, I shall break this shield myself!" As he said so, the Flame Devil approached Leihsuk's barrier without the slightest bit of hesitation and held out his left hand. Drawing on the energy within himself, Ivlis kept his hand wide open to draw energy into it from his reserves of tapped devilish dynamism. Minutes passed as his army was soon beginning to lose its patience, though the waiting finally paid off when Ivlis smiled within his face-plated helm. Shooting his arm out, he pressed it against the barrier and instantly unleashed the full force of his powers against it, shattering the large shield completely as it broke up and dispersed.

"How dare you, Ivlis!" Leihsuk cursed at him from within the throng of soldiers forming a crude phalanx in the hope of defending themselves. "This is our sacred heaven! You have no right to warp our natural energies as you see fit to destroy them!" Growling in anger, he took flight and spoke an incantation to conjure eight ethereal maces consisting of tapped sunlight within his veins. They formed and took shape as blunt hammer-like weapons around him, spinning and circling the sun angel while he began to watch the flame demon army charge into the fray. Their hellfire along with the weapons they carried on them should've been no match for the angelic phalanx. Although they were vastly outnumbered, a good majority of the sun angels expected to win this conflict. The regiment hadn't counted on the fact their sun weapons had become inferior due to dark clouds that engulfed the battlefield in complete darkness. Without the sun to provide extra charge, they weren't able to form an adequate defense, drastically reducing their effectiveness in combat against Ivlis.

"I have all the right!" the Flame Devil retorted, smiling as he began to take part in the fight too. "I was once one of your own, after all, until Siralos cast me out! I know exactly how the spells you wield function and can dispel them easily! You angels should know by now that being a Devil grants me additional power at my disposal to do that!" He laughed, cutting down several sun angels in his path as he made his way with some of his own soldiers towards Leihsuk. "Victory is ours!"

"I think not, Ivlis!" Leihsuk spat back despite watching his comrades attempt to take flight in the hope of escaping since the tide of battle was already turning significantly in Ivlis' favor. The sun angels were suffering heavy casualties, and although they tried to get away, none of them had a chance to adequately flee. Those that made the effort where their comrades failed were cut down in midair, their corpses hurtling back down to the ground where their brethren's corpses rested. A defeat was imminent for them and they could do nothing to stop it in spite of their defenses which were so poor due to these demons arriving out of nowhere unexpectedly that threw them off guard. In spite of victory slipping through their fingers, a few of the survivors attempted to fight back for glory whereas others fought simply to survive and get away. Unfortunately, they all began to die.

Of the combatants, Leihsuk was one of the few who combated his foes without hesitation. He was a proud sun angel and served Hastur proudly as his second-in-command. Losing here was the end for both his life and service. However, he was expendable to Hastur and could be replaced easily without much effort. Even so, he still contributed a lot of effort to surviving this fight by the skin of his teeth. His magical maces struck down demon after demon that came after him, thinning out the herd as best he could by using the maces to overwhelm the demons. They fell against him, one by one dying to his attacks as he blocked theirs and used the free maces to strike them. These ethereal maces had the same power his barrier had, so it was easy to kill the demons he fought. He managed to take down many of Ivlis' soldiers in the conflict, though as his own flock was thinning to the point where he was the only survivor left, even he had to acknowledge the Flame Devil was not one to be trifled with. Nonetheless he stood firm, waiting for Hastur and those reinforcements his superior promised. What he hadn't known, however, was that Hastur lied to him about that.

Emalf smirked, watching Leihsuk flail his maces throughout the space around him like the little fish he was. "And then there was one…" he commented, raising an arm to his earpiece. "All units, back away from this one. Let nightblades like myself take him." Turning to face Ivlis as the Flame Devil flew up beside him, he watched Ivlis remove the faceplate while piping up to address his superior. "Yo, Lord Ivlis, why don't cha let me handle this guy? Igls Unth's still on the run. I suggest you hurry to the unit tracking her. We could take her hostage and use the lady as such."

The Flame Devil shut his eyes, smiling evilly since he was glad for another victory and he was also grateful for the fact this was probably his first major victory in the Sun Heaven with this civil war going on. He was certainly going to capture Igls Unth, but how to use her? That was what he'd been thinking of, for if her side in the civil war was already weakened to the point where her forces fared worse than Igls Unth expected, there was no point in letting her live except to use her as a bargaining chip against Siralos. However, if what Lenny said regarding the Sun God's mental state was true, even that course of action was fairly useless too. "I don't think she'll be of use, but we can punish her, though. She can suffer for siding with Siralos and blindly following him around like a pathetic lapdog," he suggested, letting Emalf know what he was thinking about for that.

Aware of what was on his leader's mind, Emalf smiled back since he also knew what Lenny said could've been true. "We could do that, yes, put her in the jail and let Poemi play with her." It was definitely an option Poemi would love and support wholeheartedly if she was here with them. Unfortunately for her, she had to stay behind in the Flame Underworld and hold the throne for her father in case somebody from one of the factions took the opportunity to take it from him while he was away fighting the sun angels. Still, Igls Unth would've been a good present for her. "And if a hostage to elicit Siralos' response to our demands is out of the question, we can always use her for the same reason, just with a different party to hold the negotiations with in case he's unavailable."

"And just who do you propose we contact with her in captivity?" Ivlis asked, curious as to who his Commander-in-Chief had in mind. "Perhaps the God of All Gods, maybe; if he's willing?"

"My thoughts exactly, sir. If Siralos is out for good, Justim will need a deity here to prevent us from taking over the entire Land of the Sun—not that we need to due to all of the factions." The flame demon was correct about that. With so many different factions vying for power, Ivlis had to stay in the position as their Devil to keep them all in check by pleasing them however he could. It was a tough job, but he was making do with what he had and managed to get by. Claiming territory in the Sun Heaven for them by increasing the Flame Underworld's size would've helped with this regard because the factions would get new lands for them to stretch their respective militaries with said lands being distributed amongst themselves fairly. They decided what lands each would have acquired, though Ivlis acted as the judge to ensure the land claims they staked were fair and just in every sense of their respective jurisdictions of manifest destiny. "Surely he'll recognize we won."

"And are a threat to his Heavenly Council," Ivlis added, acknowledging the logic his close associate dictated to him since it was sound advice. "There's no way he can deny that. Besides, he will have to investigate my own case against the Sun Heaven as well to determine whether what I have put forth to Siralos prior to my fall is legitimate or not. Oh yes, Justim will have to take quite an interest in the affairs of this world now that it's in chaos if he hopes to hold this place." With a sinister laugh, Ivlis reached an arm out and firmly patted Emalf's shoulder. "Alright, I'd better be off. I'll leave this last guy in your capable hands. Try not to die on me anytime soon, Emalf."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing, sir," the flame demon assured him he'd handle this. "Like hell I'd fall to just one sun angel, no matter how capable he might be of killing me. Leave it to me and I'll make sure he croaks soon enough." Twirling his estoc and stiletto around, he turned to approach Leihsuk while waving to his superior. "Seen you soon, Lord Ivlis! Good luck!"

"Same to you, Emalf!" the Flame Devil returned the remark as he warped away.

…

She was breathing heavily, panting hard after having run for so long before flying from the region where her pursuers came from. Finding a small alcove near a cave in the mountains for the safety she desperately needed, Igls Unth gently pressed her hands against areas of her body where she'd been wounded. Applying the sunlight within her body to the palms of her hands, she created a healing aura that slowly but surely made the injuries better. She needed all the magic within her, using it to heal only the most critical of wounds while leaving other less serious injuries alone for the time being. Wasting all of her sunlight was bad since she could feel her wings lose power, and she needed to conserve some of what little she had left for additional healing if need be, or a dagger produced from sunlight. It would've been a weak weapon, but it would've been adequate enough.

Pondering on the nature of her aggressive pursuers, she thought about how Leihsuk's force was the original regiment after her. She knew he was setting a trap, but didn't care because of her pride as a sun angel and Siralos' daughter. Her overconfidence in her own abilities led to her falling from grace and having to flee, for she had suffered heavy losses and was the sole survivor. Cursing her own damn troops in her mind and blaming them for the loss instead of taking responsibility, it was a shame she refused to recognize the blame rested solely on her shoulders. Then again, maybe she did, but preferred to make herself look and sound good by belittling the recruits who had been under her command. Besides, the spies among her petty unit were also to blame since they turned against her instead of accepting their fate and duties as sun angels loyal only to her and Siralos.

Yet there was something different about the other pursuers, and Igls Unth was aware of the fact they were demons quite well. She sensed their presence after they replaced Leihsuk's regiment by taking up the chase, so she figured the Flame Devil capitalized on this civil war. Once again, it became a three way conflict with her on the losing end of the stick once more. Before her strength was in the allies she had until all of them died off. Now she was alone and wounded; therefore she had no chance of ever securing victory unless she utilized stealthy means to assassinate Hastur and Ivlis. Unfortunately for her, Igls Unth was a proud paladin of her father and the Sun Heaven; she'd never resort to such trickery and subterfuge even if Hastur did. Ergo, she officially lost the war.

"Found her, she's over here!" she heard one of the flame demons, a lampad, call out to her brethren. At last Ivlis' forces had found her location while she was still healing herself. Faced with defeat and probable captivity, Igls Unth staggered to her feet and constructed a dagger made of the remaining sunlight within her. She would not go down without a fight, and she planned on winning even if her dagger was shoddily produced and too weak to even deal any damage. Nevertheless, it had to suffice so she could flee and try to rescue her father from Hastur's captivity…hopefully. As she walked out from the cavernous alcove, passing through the moss and vines concealing it, she'd begun to pray for her success as she breathed deeply to prepare herself for combat with a firm grip on her dagger. Hunching her upper body forward, Igls Unth held the dagger with the blade pointed up in both hands as the lampad and her associates all laughed at her. "You call that shit a weapon?" she taunted the angelic lady. "Looks more like some pathetic pen or a sewing needle to me, girl."

"Laugh it up all you demons want, I'm getting out of here alive!" Igls Unth barked at them. "If anyone will fall here, it's going to be you demons! I shall not lose, regardless of disadvantages!" Inwardly grateful for her pride, she was glad to still have it. It helped her find the strength—weak as she already was—to face the demons opposing her. However, another unfortunate setback she'd forgotten to consider was the fact her former brother might've shown up at any moment. Ivlis was probably going to arrive, and she'd be ultimately powerless against him if he did come for her. An unpleasant scenario, but one that was altogether possible…especially when he already appeared in front of her all of a sudden which gravely startled her. "Ivlis?!" Igls Unth cried out in surprise.

"Hello, _sis_ ," the Flame Devil said sarcastically, knocking Igls Unth into unconsciousness.

…

He flew onwards for about an hour, looking down at the wasteland of dead grasslands and tundra throughout the area while thinking about what it must've looked like when he heard of this heaven's appearance at first. Ever since he was born with his eyes closed, there was a kind of spell over him and the other sun angels whose eyes were also shut like his. It was some sort of imaginary magic showing them the Sun Heaven's beauty in all its glory. This place must've been a paradise, albeit one without a demonic populace inhabiting the space—at least not since Ivlis' fall. Glancing around, Lenny imagined the Sun Heaven was once a place of bountiful harvests, landscapes which could've been very pretty with pretty cities to be found, and a bright sky with the sun always hung over the entire heaven and the mortal plane. Of course, that was but his imagination, thoughts that this heaven was vibrantly teeming with so much life from a sun that empowered everyone's lives.

Then came the civil war, when everything became chaotic from what he'd heard. The Sun God had fallen, Siralos' mental state leaving him incapable of governing the Land of the Sun. For whatever reason that may have caused it, rumors had quickly spread from the angels Justim placed in his embassy within this heaven. Some said it was probably a case of dementia, others claimed a normal matter of insanity had caused Siralos to lose his mind. Yet there were other rumors, rumors that a pair of unknown demons had assaulted the Sun Tower and massacred much of the staff there while proving their strength as superior to the Sun God's were also active as well. This latter story began to circulate throughout the heavens, including the Corporate Heaven which passed the word along to the Gray Garden, and it only started getting told after members of the Sun Tower's faculty took their chances with Hastur during the civil war. Hastur himself claimed the demons came from the Gray Garden, though that theory couldn't be proven without solid, concrete evidence. However right or wrong he may have been, Lenny actually did know about the truth from Kcalb and Wodahs after word circulated throughout the Gray Garden, but not beyond the borders around the world.

While Aleista and Soa did reside in the Gray Garden—Soa may have technically been seen as a resident in some cases since she was produced in that world and its previous incarnation, that being the Colored Rainbow World—they did not necessarily align themselves with it. They and a strange deified being they served, the Great Elder known as M'nellkor, were only there for reasons that were important to their own cause. Their issue with Siralos didn't involve the Gray Garden as they retaliated against him for assaulting their underground city during the first attempted invasion.

In any case, the civil war occurred for a number of reasons. One of those reasons had been the retaliation undertaken by Aleista and Soa which made Siralos insane. Another was because of how Igls Unth must've hid her father's condition from their world with military assistance. Hence the perceived notion of them attempting to establish a militant stratocracy on behalf of Siralos, the idea thus leading to a revolution attempting to preserve their heaven's values and beliefs while the angels attempted to put a new Sun God in Siralos' place. Yet that revolution could only emerge in civilization due to Hastur's reveal of what had happened, leading to the civil war itself. One thing led to another, the threads linked up which established a portrait of how this conflict first began. It was fairly complex, though anyone could consider the factors when they had the whole account to determine how something like this happened. Lenny knew it from his time in the Gray Garden. He learned about it and was able to place the pieces of this puzzle together with that world and Fumus.

And when that puzzle was completed, it portrayed a heaven torn by strife between opposing virtues, values, norms, and beliefs. The fighting ruined the Sun Heaven, turning the space into this shadow of its former self. It turned families and friends against each other as they vied for whatever side they thought made more sense to them in their opinions. Yet the opinions were reinforced by this world's culture and religion, and the truth of what happened to Siralos made a dire impact that left the angels divided over issues pertaining to this very civil war. They didn't know which party was correct, some still believing in Siralos whereas others flocked to Hastur. Others could've even continued to fight for their world's religion and culture, but sought to replace Siralos with a fresh, new deity, one who would've preserved the social aspects that kept their world together. This was a massive schism, one that even affected the mortal realm as well because the civil war constructed other schisms there in which new religions and religious sects were founded based on new beliefs.

This was the picture shown from recent events in the Sun Heaven, and to actually come to this place was to paint oneself into the portrait as a living participant, whether said participant was or was not involved in any of the warring parties. Lenny certainly was not as he sided with another party, one external to the conflict and sought to stop it for different reasons. Even so, he could not help but feel sorry for his old heaven and wish for the strife to end. That was why he chose to help an outside force; by saving the Sun Heaven from itself, he was contributing to its eventual renewal. Soon that renewal would become a reality, for the picture of this depressing wasteland would end.

Coming upon an area with an imprint showing a sun on a large wall which was formerly a part of a major military base, Lenny heard the beacon beep from within the container it was stored in. Pulling it out and looking at it, he realized this must've been a good place to set it down so the portal could be established here. "Looks like I found one," he commented nonchalantly and began to descend towards the ground. Landing in front of the wall, the paladin set the beacon on the very center of it and flew back while energy gathered around it from both within the other side of it and the Sun Heaven too. Rippling while calibrating itself to an instant teleportation spell that had been applied to the creation of this portal, it soon formed within minutes as Lenny watched shapes start to form within it. Realizing these shapes were Kcalb and Fumus, Lenny unsheathed his sword and waved it like a flag signaling for their arrival when somebody spoke up from behind him.

"H-hey, what's going on? Is that an open portal?"

Turning to face whoever was talking, Lenny found a group of seven sun angels behind him. They did not appear to be dangerous since their weapons weren't drawn, and all of them had their eyes closed signifying their blind obedience to Siralos. These guys must've been recruits from the way they were decked in standard gear that fit the description of what he heard recruits wore: suits of leather armor for clerics, plain robes, for priests and priestesses, and bronze copper armor which was worn by paladins. Lenny didn't know why they weren't with Igls Unth, unless they must have been part of her forces prior to the march against Leihsuk; perhaps they went AWAL sometime at an earlier date. "Why yes, it is a portal for the armies of the Gray Garden and Corporate Heaven," he answered them, grasping the hilt of his blade and lowering it to prepare himself for a fight. He'd feel guilty for fighting them even if it was to defend himself, though it was necessary to ensure the portal remained opened for his allies. "Why do you ask? Have you come to shut this portal as they are already en route to this very location? If so, I'm afraid I can't allow any of you to do that."

"W-wait, did you say the armies of two other worlds are coming?" another recruit asked.

"Specifically one world and one heaven," Lenny clarified for her. "If you don't wish to be involved in a fight you cannot win, I suggest you lower your weapons and stay where you are. The armies shall not harm you, I can promise that much so long as you behave accordingly and comply with any instructions they give you. If you would like me to vouch for you, I'm willing to for you."

"Y-you s-shall not harm us?" another recruit, a cleric this time, asked him as well.

"You have my word, I shall not; I can also ensure they won't either," Lenny vowed. Upon providing them with this promise, two figures emerged from the portal and strode forward to gaze upon this area of the Sun Heaven—what was left of it, anyway. The two of them were in fact Kcalb and Fumus, the Devil of the Gray Garden and Smoking God of the Corporate Heaven respectively, and each of them were decked in their respective gear for whatever combat they got involved in.

"A-ah, one of them is a Devil!" one of the priests cried out and got into a defensive posture with his six comrades, though their stance was timidly nervous at best since they all trembled. Just as Lenny was about to calm them down by explaining the situation, Kcalb sauntered forward while raising a hand. Under his other arm was a warp slate like the one Fumus carried with him, and they set these down while casting a couple spells to create a gargantuan campsite stretching throughout the region for many miles beyond this location. Applying this same magic to the warp slates, they teleported all of the soldiers in their armies into the Sun Heaven so the troops could adjust to their whereabouts and establish responsibilities they would follow in and around the main campsite. As the seven sun angels inadvertently drew some attention to themselves in this area, the Devil stepped forward to greet them with a similar promise to not harm any of them if they cooperated with them.

"Fear not, no harm shall befall any of you provided you offer us your cooperation. You are gravely outnumbered and cannot secure victory if you do attempt to fight. All we ask of you is for any information you can provide concerning the civil war in this heaven. Afterwards, we shall see to it you're escorted to either the Gray Garden or the Corporate Heaven, whichever you choose. It is a relatively simple offer, one we strongly encourage you to take as we can protect you and keep each of you safe. What say you to the conditions of this arrangement? Do you find them fair?"

The sun angels were surprised by his vow, sensing no falsehood in his speech. Although it might've come across as a blunt statement based on how it was worded, the tone of Kcalb's voice when he conveyed that message to them harbored no malice towards them. Instead they could hear the kindness in his voice, feeling he was telling the truth about protecting them in exchange for the information they could provide. Unsure if they wanted to go through with this, they discussed their options and weighed the consequences and ramifications of each before turning around. One strode forward nervously and cleared her throat prior to speaking. "V-very well, we accept your terms."

Kcalb smiled at them, grateful for their decision to offer aid. "Excellent, some of our troops shall lead you over to a tent where you may put forth your respective testimonies. Following your cooperation, you may make the choice of which aforementioned location you'd like to be escorted to." Averting his attention towards two demon and Nephilim soldiers, he beckoned them over with his hand to give them instructions. "Take these sun angels and interview them about the civil war."

The Nephilim and demon saluted him. "Yes, sir!" the former remarked before leaving with the sun angels, leading them to a nearby tent where they could speak about affairs in this heaven.

Ambling forward to stand by the Devil, Fumus and Lenny gazed around this area to observe the other troops settling down as they conversed with one another, introducing themselves and also talking about various topics while going about their duties. "Looks like we got a full house here," the Smoking God commented as the three of them began to walk around the area to check on how things were going. "Two large armies in one heaven against whatever foes we may face together."

"Indeed," Kcalb spoke as well, watching the soldiers from his world interact with the ones from Fumus' heaven. "There are plenty of differences between us, though there are similarities we share too. I'm impressed by how well coordinated our respective peoples are and also how they're working together for a common objective. After all, it is this communal facet that brings us together for the greater good by ensuring the safety of others and ourselves as well is fulfilled. Even if this cooperation between us might not be welcomed by everyone, at least it's a step in a right direction towards preserving peace and saving lives." Turning his head to address Lenny next, he spoke up, putting forth an inquiry into the affairs the former sun angel knew of. "Now then, regarding all the encounters you've had so far in this heaven, relay to us what occurred after your first and previous contact with us, Lenny. What else did you see following my brother's first call, and subsequently the second call you made to him when you mentioned Ivlis was on board with our alliance?"

"Not happened since I first spoke with Wodahs," the paladin began to explain. "I found the corpses of many sun angels within the bunkers I came across en route to the one where I met Emalf prior to meeting the Flame Devil. They must've been on Igls Unth's side in the civil war, but were slaughtered by Hastur's forces before they could unite and establish a stronger militant unit under her. I then spoke with Emalf and was led to Ivlis to discuss the terms of a possible alliance for the duration of this civil war. He agreed to it, though surprised me by how quickly he accepted with a decision to discuss the conditions of this alliance with you and Fumus. I suppose he'd accept help from anybody who's an enemy of Siralos and Igls Unth. I did inform him of the present situation; next I contacted Wodahs again to inform you both of my contact with Ivlis. After that I was acting as a temporary guest officer in his army for a few skirmishes with Hastur's forces in some areas."

"Good work, Lenny," Fumus complimented him on a fine job. "And what of Igls Unth? Is she faring either well or poorly in this civil war? Have you encountered units under her orders?"

"Poorly, in fact; she's the only survivor of her own party; Hastur's forces overwhelmed her as she blindly walked right into a trap set by Leihsuk, one of Hastur's subordinates. Her troops had only consisted of recruits and spies from the enemy army, and she experienced several revolts from other reports we heard regarding her. Nothing's been located regarding Siralos' condition, yet the notion he may have been captured by Hastur could be true. Then again, it's possible he may be in another location, a safe place from all the fighting. This matter hasn't been confirmed yet, but I'm aware that Ivlis sent a detachment of troops after Igls Unth while she fled from Leihsuk during his confrontation with the Flame Devil's army. There were only about seven hundred or so soldiers in Leihsuk's command, though Ivlis had more and could've likely won the battle by now if possible."

"Could you take us to the location of that battlefield, Lenny?" Kcalb asked the paladin.

Lenny nodded. "Sure, no problem," he replied, taking flight with them as they headed over to said battlefield by going back the way the former sun angel originally came. "Just follow me. It will be about an hour or so, so the conflict may already be over. Ivlis may have sensed your arrival and might prepare to meet with you soon after his own army returns to his main camp by the sea."

…

"Well, well, what an expected surprise…" the Flame Devil murmured slightly sarcastically with his hands folded underneath his chin while seated at the table set up for the meeting between all three of them. Each of them brought over a trusted officer, three pairs from three militaries that were arrayed in a triangular circle. Ivlis brought Emalf; Fumus had Egmont, a white haired angelic youth with some green in his hair that matched a bow; and Kcalb selected Grora from amongst his army. Directing his smirk at the other Devil amongst them, Ivlis sneered while widening his smirk. "Of all the people I could've met during the rather chaotic times in this heaven, you've shown your face, Black Devil. Tell me, how long has it been since I last invaded your pathetic world? The rate of time's passage in the Land of the Sun is different than yours—two decades here to two centuries there?" His inquiry was laced with venom, for he was taunting one of the men allied to him in this conflict. It wasn't a smart move due to the risk of breaking it, as Emalf was quick to point out.

"I believe it'd be wiser to retract that statement, sir."

"Or reword it so it's at least _tactful_ ," Grora spat out, directing her own venom at Ivlis.

"Calm yourself, Miss Grora," Egmont gently chided her, not opening his eyes. It was kind of a reminder about the sun angels in this world. Perhaps he too was blindly obedient to his deity. "It would be a disaster for this war council to end on a sour note, thus forming friction among us."

"For your information, he invaded our world," Grora diverted her attention to him, though said nothing else as she shut her mouth and kept quiet, complying with the logic he dictated to her.

"Duly noted," the angelic youth responded, "but let's allow our leaders to talk, shall we?"

"Indeed, Egmont," Kcalb agreed with him before answering the questions. "A year passed since you invaded the Gray Garden, which would probably amount to sometime less than a decade in yours, but over a year itself. Though we are still enemies due to your assault, we and our people concur that this alliance is only a temporary necessity on all our parts as we share a common foe."

"Hence why we proposed to construct it, whereupon this tie with your army shall dissolve once the conflict in this heaven has been taken care of," Fumus added. "Not to come across as too offensive as it is not my intention, bear in mind that we shall uphold our end of this brief alliance. We can only hope you'll fulfill yours and not go against it by betraying us anytime soon, alright?"

"Fair enough," the Flame Devil consented to that term prior to moving onto another. "Tell me, why would another world and another heaven seek to declare war upon the Sun Heaven and a certain God whose mental state was left in tatters? I'm well aware of the Heavenly Council's need to be united, and your paladin has explained that it's to temper the struggle affecting this place, as well as the fact Siralos tried to invade your respective civilizations like I had done with yours." He did know that, but sought further clarification while referring to his invasion of the Gray Garden.

"It is as Lenny explained to you regarding the nature of this problem," Kcalb began to offer that clarification, ignoring the bit of that remark pertaining to his world. "The Sun God has started an invasion of our world which fell through at first, but we only enacted upon it when Justim made a request that we put forth military assistance and some additional resources and supplies as well. He would've likely used our world as a front against the Corporate Heaven, though his attempt to invade that heaven was also discovered, leading to Justim's denouncement against the Sun Heaven and its actions once we also provided the relevant information to Fumus to inform him of the threat against him." He finished there, allowing the Smoking God to continue on with the procedure.

"However, it is not Siralos who is the enemy anymore due to his mental capacity as you've shown awareness of already. Proceeding said reveal in this heaven, the embassy Justim had placed in this heaven retreated back to their world with information regarding the recent events they were informed of when it occurred. Igls Unth led a militant effort to govern the Sun Heaven for Siralos, though one of the Gray Garden's former angels, Hastur, spilled the beans on that matter. This was what initiated the civil war, and he has opposed Igls Unth as the two of them fought for power."

"If this guy must be against Siralos and Igls Unth, surely he must be our little messenger," Emalf spoke up and produced a slip of paper from within his pocket. "Lord Ivlis sensed a weakness in the Sun Heaven prior to getting this, but this note confirmed what we know about the civil war."

"And you capitalized on it," Egmont commented while Fumus and Kcalb looked over that note together. "Even without this message, you would've acted right away by joining the fray."

"Smart lad," Ivlis complimented the angelic youth on his perception before continuing with an update on what they all currently knew. "We just finished taking out more of this Hastur guy's soldiers and have been gaining small victories in minor skirmishes prior to this victory. Igls Unth's in our captivity, but I have no intention of letting her go—at least, not without terms fulfilled." He held a hand out as a gesture for Kcalb and Fumus to offer their terms regarding that. "What'll it be in regards to her fate? What do you have to offer me to ensure she won't experience…some rather unsavory punishments from the demons under my command? Go ahead, propose terms for her."

"As a matter of fact, we'd prefer for Igls Unth to be charged just like her father for being a supportive party of his invasion," Fumus commented, responding to the inquiry. "You can keep a firm grip on her for as long as you like and put her forth when she must face trial before the Council for her actions. You can even do the same with Siralos if he's currently in your possession too."

Ivlis smiled. "Excellent, I look forward to presenting their sorry asses to other deities if she and her father will be charged appropriately for their misconduct. I would've settled for their lives to end at my hands, though making them suffer is so much more appealing. Although I don't have the Sun God in captivity as well, I shall eventually find him and let the mad man be with his child."

"Sure, you can keep them until they face the charges," Kcalb consented. "As for us, we do not seek any reparations from the Sun Heaven. They have not damaged the Gray Garden; however, Hastur has kidnapped one of our own and we intend to rescue her from his clutches. The Corporate Heaven, on the other hand, only requires a minor reimbursement to cover some damages to one of the buildings there. Small stuff, really, though you'll reap most of the benefits from this alliance."

Emalf smiled, glad the party under Ivlis would earn most of the cut from participating in a team like this. "Sweet, that'll cover what we seek in our victory over the Sun Heaven," he said.

"And just what do you seek?" Grora inquired sarcastically, speaking up again. Although it was against her better judgment, she felt she had to know for the sake of those who weren't playing a role in this conflict and were simply innocent in it. "Knowing you, you'll just end life here, using whatever resources you need to conquer this bloody place and put the people to their knees via the selfish desire for more power. You tried to get it from our world, and now you're at it again here."

"True, I sought your Devil's power for my own revenge against Siralos," Ivlis admitted to her and the other three on her side of the alliance. "Though I must say, Miss Grora, that you do not seem to have an open mind towards my objectives. Granted, I will give you the attempted invasion on the Gray Garden as reinforcement of your perspective, though my objectives are not as crass as they used to be. Since being enlisted among the Queen's feudalistic system of governance, there's a whole slew of responsibilities I have as the Devil, one of which being the necessary conflict that many of the worlds—unlike your worlds—follow in which angels and demons must fight. Though that in of itself is a rather black and white statement, there is so much more to that now. As a Devil, it is my duty to govern the Flame Underworld as I see fit on behalf of Her Majesty. Henceforth, it is crucial for me to ensure the factions under my reign are content enough to not rebel against me, or dispute amongst themselves. By winning this conflict, I will secure territory among other things for them to please the factions as I have strived to do ever since becoming one of GriRea's Devils."

"That's a pretty reasonable notion, a fair point of governing an underworld," Kcalb stated, knowing fully well what it took to ensure one wouldn't crumble under the authority of incompetent Devils, thus ushering in chaos that deities could take advantage of. "You must take your duties for the Queen rather seriously, a contrast between what you've displayed of your personality before."

"Someone's got to rein them in if they get too chaotic," the Flame Devil remarked, simply shrugging in response while shutting his eyes and leaning back in his chair. "I'd ask Justim to have my position in the Sun Heaven reinstated due to the unpleasant history I share with Siralos and his daughter, though that would leave a vacuum of power in the Flame Underworld. The factions could take the opportunity to fight, and the conflict could boil over and involve me in an excessive fight."

"So you'd continue to stand by your current position to ensure they don't cause trouble for anyone else?" Fumus asked as Ivlis nodded to answer his question. "That's quite a legitimate duty, and I must commend you for taking this into consideration by accounting for the bigger picture."

"Indeed," Emalf concurred with the opinion. "If there's nothing else to discuss, why don't you allow us to head on back to our army so we can continue the fighting on our end? There's still plenty of significant holdings in the Sun Heaven to siege and claim for us, so we'd better get right on that. Don't worry about asking us for anything, but let us handle things how we want to, okay?"

"Sure," Kcalb consented to this term. "However, we could use your assistance to assault a bastille known as the Sun Inquisition. It's likely Hastur's main base of operations, so perhaps you can offer some troops to participate in a three-pronged attack on the prison if you wish to help."

Ivlis' smirk became a wicked grin. "Certainly, just let us take down the rest of this heaven."

…

And just like that, the war council was over. Having stretched her arms in the air while she left the tent ahead of everybody else in there, Grora sighed as she quietly ambled around this area of the main camp. Looking back at the flap leading into it, she supposed the leaders had to discuss tactics as a last subject for the civil war they became involved in to stop it. Her eye was narrowed, but not in anger; rather she was exhausted and depressed, taking a break from her usual hotheaded attitude to mull about a different topic, one she was heading towards right now as a matter of fact. Crossing over a broken section of the wall where the portal was originally built and sauntering into the military base, Grora explored the space in search of Arbus. The militaries from the Gray Garden and the Corporate Heaven used this place as a training ground as it was still in good use, and some of the soldiers were checking it out as well for anything of interest to them. Whatever was useful to the war effort was claimed by them, though others found small souvenirs to bring back home.

Grora had seen Arbus enter this part of the area a while ago while she was en route to meet with the others at the war council. The angelic archer figured she was around here somewhere for a bit of training. Honing her skills was something Arbus needed to do if she wanted to save Ater's life. Ever since her twin sister was kidnapped by Hastur, the black haired cat demon had been in a similar state of depression Grora had experienced and was still in even now. At first she wept over the loss of her sister, yet as the days went by her sorrow slowly converted into intense anger, rage towards the man who took Ater from her, the foster family she knew, and their home world. Arbus was greatly incensed, seeking revenge against Hastur for the terrible act he committed right before her eyes. Grora understood how she felt even though the exact same thing hadn't happened to her, though Hastur was the one who ruined her life just as she contributed to that herself. He started it, and she continued on that path he set her on without questioning him despite the doubts she felt.

Whether Arbus chose to let the angelic woman help save Ater or not was a different story. Grora killed their parents, a sinful crime the cat demons couldn't forgive because of everything an unsurmountable problem like that caused. Arbus couldn't trust her after what she'd done, after all the abuse she put them through afterwards. They didn't deserve it because they did nothing wrong, the eye Ater took from the angel being an incredibly minor offence compared to the larger sin that angel committed which impacted all of their lives. Ater and Arbus never knew their parents, Grora never knew their parents were the final two victims she'd slain for Hastur in cold blood. They had no way of knowing that connection was present until Aleista showed the felines the final moments of their parents' lives. And now that the three of them were fully aware of each other's role in this triangle of deep remorse, agony, sorrow, confusion, and fear…they didn't know how to reconcile. More specifically, Grora didn't know how to reconcile with them regarding her crime against Ater and Arbus; it was she who started it, but she didn't know how else to end it other than slaying that man who began it all with an order to kill their parents: Hastur, the angel who drew them together.

Finding Arbus all by herself in front of a training dummy, Grora leaned on the railing of a platform next to one of the ruined barracks. Observing the black haired kitty angrily abuse the poor thing with her trident by smashing the weapon onto it and piercing the whole thing with the spikes, the angel frowned somberly and just watched Arbus give that training dummy a hellish experience. She didn't want to interrupt her, lest she become the victim of Arbus' rage. The feline's cries that expressed her seething fury were also tinted with sorrowful anguish, the feelings of losing her only twin sister forever shaping the anger she felt. Arbus hoped Ater was safe, and so did Grora as well.

"My, she's a wrathful one, she is," came an insipid comment from beside her as she averted her attention to the guy walking up to her. "She has the inner makings of a fine berserker," he also made sure to add, the Flame Devil joining her at the railing to observe Arbus' angry training. "It's a shame she serves your military, otherwise she'd be a great addition to mine. I could use a fighter like her in my elite guard to keep the factions in check. I'm sure they'd be quite fearful of her."

Grora shut her eye and scowled, irritated that Ivlis had come to check out the place. Perhaps he was just exploring the area like the others who took an interest in seeing what this place had to offer in the way of adventuring. Ivlis' presence was unwelcome after his invasion, and she voiced her discontent with him even if her tone wasn't laced with the alluring attraction in his when Ivlis displayed his admiration for Arbus' skills as a combatant. "Piss off, jerk," she uttered somberly, a tinge of anger evident in the words she chose to use. She didn't care if her conduct towards him as an ally was potentially jeopardizing the temporary alliance they made with him, though she would take the full blame for it anyway if the Flame Devil and his forces used her hatred as justification. "If you think we're all water under the bridge after you invaded our world, think again. You might be our ally for a time until we end this conflict, but you're still not welcome to show your mug."

"Naturally I don't expect you to forgive me," Ivlis conceded the argument without adopting an aggressive stance towards her. He had no need to, for he already gave the Gray Garden that. All he cared about was his revenge for Siralos' betrayal, that being the reason why he invaded because he sought to steal Kcalb's power for that end. Why he didn't ally with the Gray Garden was simple, for the Gray Garden was peaceful and wouldn't get involved in any conflict due to neutrality. That was why Ivlis couldn't count on them, hence he attempted to take the power Kcalb had within him. "We're still enemies, after all, so I'm aware you aren't on the best of terms with me. Nevertheless, all I ask for now is to be left to my own devices and I'll leave you to yours provided you uphold it on your end. Though to be fair, this temporary alliance is only necessary to take down the Sun God and his ilk." Thankfully he wasn't taking offence from her remark towards him, so the conversation was treading along at a steady, if somewhat intolerant, stance. "It'll end soon, so we'll go our own ways once this is all over. Just be grateful you won't have to work with me for too long, Grora."

"Tch, whatever," Grora commented blandly without even making eye contact. "I shall not ever trust you after what you did, and I don't expect you'd even care for others. That stuff about a lot of factions in your underworld—a bunch of bullshit if you ask me. Of course, that's just me."

"I cannot argue on that, Grora, as I am in complete agreement. It is indeed bullshit because I have to keep them in line. They cause no end of trouble whether they're against me or one another in a fight to the death. As the Devil, I am well within my right to destroy them if I see fit; although I am fully capable of it, I do not because they can be more useful in my service than dead to me. I would end them all in any other circumstance, though I am content with merely taking away all of the privileges of any factions that instigate strife in the Flame Underworld until they pay up all the reparations required to regain said privileges back. Making them content helps me in the long run, for positive reinforcement via rewards and such is necessary to ensure they are loyal to me; though at times I must exert negative punishment until the factions that instigated whatever conflict get it through their thick skulls that I am in charge and am allowing them to have plenty of autonomy."

Grora blinked, somewhat inwardly surprised the Flame Devil was actually pretty intelligent when it came to governmental affairs. It made him look less like the power-hungry tyrant she knew him as. Appearances could've been deceiving as one shouldn't have judged a book by its cover as that led to misinformed preconceptions—reading the description and a bit of the book itself would have assisted in forming an opinion of it. Whatever the case, Ivlis seemed different than the Devil who sought to kill her world's Devil for his power—he actually was that Devil, but not in the kind of sense she expected him to be like. Regardless, she didn't care. "Why are you even talking to me when we're supposed to be enemies, barring the temporary alliance, of course?" she inquired.

"Because according to your Devil and the Smoking God, they have elected to allow you to head a team into the Sun Inquisition against this Hastur fellow," Ivlis replied as-a-matter-of-factly. "According to your Devil, the two of you share a rather…unfriendly history, so I was curious as to how you know of him. An old flame of an ally from your world gone rogue, so to speak?" His casual interest in her relationship with Hastur garnered a glance that told him he was right, though the Flame Devil let her do the talking when she spoke up. She didn't know why; she just did.

"So to speak," she confirmed that much about him at first, then went on to give a synopsis to briefly explain how the angelic man was a conniving, narcissistic piece of shit. "Guy was really full of himself, hated everyone and used others for his own objectives. He'd just walk all over any people in his way, regardless of whether they're his allies or not by torturing and killing everyone. He had a way with words and got others to follow him by helping to achieve the revival of conflict in our world. Yet it was all a ruse he set up to make us his scapegoats by trying to show he wasn't evil when he actually was. We killed so many innocent angels and demons for him, her parents as well since they were included too." Saying this last comment, Grora raised a hand to point a finger at Arbus while continuing to speak. "Then only recently he kidnapped her sister, taking her here."

"Oh, really? Is that so?" the Flame Devil murmured another inquiry, this time the rhetorical aspect of his questions becoming evident since he applied this element to them. "And how do their parents feel about that? How would your world react to this if they knew what you have done?"

"They already do. Everybody knows, including the kitties. Those two sure hate me since it was by my hands that their parents died when Hastur gave the order." Grora sighed, thinking about why she even bothered pouring her problems onto Ivlis when she knew he could care less. Maybe it was because she wanted advice on how to handle the problem she was already trying to solve on her own as best she could. "I just…feel so sorry for everything I've done in my wretched past." It was going to be tough working it out by herself, so perhaps she needed help dealing with this issue.

"Lord Ivlis!" Emalf called the Flame Devil as he strode over to contact his superior. "We've got to be heading back to our own camp. Everything's good and set, and we're in good shape with this alliance. Hell, our victory over the Sun Heaven is already secured, so let's go and take it now."

"Certainly, Emalf, let's head out." Turning back to Grora, Ivlis smirked. "See ya, angel, it was nice having a short chat between temporary allies," he remarked before leaving her alone.

"Yeah, whatever…see ya," Grora responded without waving. She hadn't taken her eye off Arbus, continuing to watch the black haired cat demon tear the training dummy apart. While she'd been observing, a thought occurred to Grora that she wasn't sure about before. Others had provided her the advice she already needed, telling her to try and work alongside the kitties. It may not have been a good idea then, but perhaps there was some merit to it now. Ater had become a hostage and Arbus wanted her back. Grora did too, so maybe that was a common goal she and Arbus could've striven for together in spite of the intense hatred the latter felt for the angelic lady. By helping save Ater's life, Grora would've been fulfilling the atonement she set out to accomplish. Perhaps Etihw had told Kcalb about that after the Devil had given Grora positive compliments about the Goddess' armor on the angel. He agreed she was worthy of wearing it as did the other soldiers who saw her in it, so maybe that led to a general consensus that she should've led an assault against Hastur. The notion was there as she had seen it before, but now Grora felt she saw it clearer than ever before.

That was why she found the inner strength she needed to end the conflict within herself by walking down the steps towards Arbus. Each step was full of conviction, her resolve to do right at long last. This was the only way to do it, and she needed to take it at once. "Arbus," she spoke up.

"What?!" the cat demon barked at her, whirling around to face Grora, her eyes flaming due to the wrathful fury within her. "What the hell do you want, Grora?! Leave me alone, I'm busy!"

"I can certainly see that, but I'd like—"

"But what?! You want to cause Ater and I more trouble, huh?!" Arbus accused her. It was certainly a genuine concern of hers because she and her twin had suffered so much under the abuse Grora subjected them to. Henceforth she raised her trident with the spikes pointed directly at Grora. "You took our parents, abused us to no end…" The cat demon was panting heavily, drenched in a lot of her own sweat because she'd been training so hard. Yet her anger empowered her emotions. "All the of the harm you caused us…physically, mentally, emotionally…what more do you want?! What more do you plan to do us after we get Ater back?! Is it even worth living in the Gray Garden anymore because of you?! Do you really hate us that bad that can't even stand us at all, all because of your damn eye?!" Again she raised additional points that were once again valid as she continued to keep her weapon focused on Grora, her whole body trembling in rage. "I should kill you, Grora! I hate you so much with every fiber of my very being, and I don't care what others think about it!"

"They can't stop you," Grora commented, unperturbed by Arbus' wrath. "They shouldn't."

"Really?! Cause last time I checked, slaying you could risk causing a civil war of our own!" the black haired feline retorted coldly. "Answer me this, Grora! What's stopping me from slaying you right here and now besides that?! What reason could you possibly give me to stay my hand?!"

"Nothing," the angelic lady answered as simple as she could, doing nothing to bring Arbus' weapon down because the feline had every right to point it at her. "Absolutely nothing. I shall not deny that you are right about what I've done because it is true. I murdered your parents and haven't been punished fairly for it; I wasn't for other killings and crimes I committed back then. What I've done is too horrible to deny in light of the fact it's hard to accept. There is no way I shall ever find forgiveness for everything I've done no matter how much I try to atone for it all anyway."

"Then why the hell are you even trying at all?!"

"That's a good question, one I find myself asking after everything that's happened," Grora responded, making her decision and ensuring she stuck by it as firmly as she could. "I could simply give up, throw in the towel and walk away right now without even trying to solve my problems as all I'd be doing is merely acknowledging them. The only reason I'm not is because acknowledging them is not enough as this alone will never make the pain go away. I'm to march right into Hastur's hideout with a team of experienced fighters under my command; although I could turn it down due to me being unworthy of it, I cannot run from it since this has to happen. The one confronting him has to be me because only I can put an end to it since I am the only other survivor of the past which caused so much torment for the Gray Garden. I let everyone down, killed a lot of innocent people, your parents included; the sinful crimes I committed can only be made right through me alone. It's why I have to do this, Arbus, why I have to be the one to end it just as I helped start it long ago. It won't end until Hastur is dead; if left alive, he'll commit more atrocities and slaughter Ater."

"Which is why I must be the one to save her!" Arbus proclaimed to her. "Not you because you'll just kill her too to satisfy your own personal vendetta against us to complete your revenge!"

"Precisely, that's exactly why I need you, Arbus."

Arbus suddenly blinked in surprise as Grora stepped forward, gently lowering the weapon as she strode forward and put both hands on the kitty's shoulders with a firm grip. "Wha—?"

"Arbus, from this point forward for the duration of this conflict, I hereby deputize you. I'll need all the help I can get, and I want you to be there with me to help finish this and save Ater. Do this for her sake by accepting the position I'm giving you as my second-in-command for the duty."

"Grora…"

"Do not do this for me; do it for Ater, your twin sister. She needs you to save her, and that's exactly why I am authorizing you to become a member of my team. It matters not whether you do trust me enough to accept the position because what's more important is rescuing Ater's life from Hastur. He would have likely put her through much torture, but I am positive he didn't kill her yet since keeping her alive could prove useful to him. This will be our opening to save her; if we don't take it, she could very well die by his hands and we'd be too late to stop him from killing her. The time is running out as her life is in grave danger. Do you accept this responsibility as her sister?"

Although Arbus still distrusted her, she wouldn't say no to saving Ater. "I do," she nodded without hesitation, accepting the role Grora was assigning to her without fail for her sister's sake.

Grora nodded too. "Excellent, now prepare yourself well. This fight will be difficult, but it is crucial we get in there to save Ater. Collect your weapon and suit up while gathering whatever's useful. It'll be tough as I said, though we have a chance to do this and make this happen." She held a hand out after stepping back from the cat demon. "Now, Arbus, let's get ready to rescue Ater."

Arbus took her hand, clasping hers around Grora's firmly and shaking it. "Yes, let's do it."


	29. Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Sun Inquisition

Her screams of painful anguish echoed throughout the building as he watched his staff use only the most refined torture equipment to harm her. Observing the white haired cat demon as she wailed in agony, the Gray Garden's former angel simply watched without a care in the world about how far the torture was going. They went to great lengths with it, applying it in extreme conditions to amplify the effectiveness against the poor girl. She hadn't slept at all in the days she spent here, awake twenty-four seven for each and every moment she endured. That was how long the torturous treatment lasted, and would continue to last for as long as they had her in their grasp. Every angel of the sun heaven who participated in the matter enjoyed it, finding pleasure in torturing their weak prisoner without any sign of remorse simply because she was a demon. Thus they punished her in such a severe way that any other angels would've denounced their actions as barbarically cruel as the methods were entirely inhumane. Yet they didn't care, their arrogant pride making them think they were better than others—the same belief Hastur reinforced within them as their new leader of the Sun Heaven, a man who would one day become the God of Existence to create a new existence.

Their abrasive disregard for her life just because she was a demon contributed to each and every kind of technique they inflicted upon her. Ater's head was completely covered by a hood to not only blind her to everything she experienced, but also deafen her hearing so she wouldn't hear anything either because of the earmuffs sewn into the interior with a heated metal plate over Ater's eyes inside it for the purpose of abacination. When the hood wasn't over her head, they forcefully shoved all kinds of pharmacological drugs intended to harm her biological systems further just like they had done when she was first brought into the Sun Inquisition. Her tormentors also completely denailed her, tearing off her finger nails, toe nails, and claws of her cat form; and combed her skin to tear off plenty of it and flesh. That was one method of flaying her, though the angels also made use of cat o' nine tails to flog her too. They even crippled her legs via the means of hamstringing and kneecapping, plus the sun angels also implemented terrible devices such as a Catherine wheel to break her bones. These methods were but a sample of what she experienced while tortured.

Suffering in a lot of pain, Ater slowly began to look more like a corpse than a living being, turning into a gaunt cadaver from a lack of nutritional substances—food she could eat—and liquids to drink. Yet she was still alive for all of it, experiencing the full onslaught of painful torture from the hands of her tormentors who could've easily become her executioners. However, Hastur would not allow it because she was still useful; he planned to kill her anyway, but not now since he would wait for the armies to surround this place. Then he'd present Ater's crippled form to them and then execute her to send her down into the deepest recesses of whatever hell he condemned her to. This horrible torture was a hell in of itself, one that forced her to endure such violent treatment. Yet the torture here wasn't enough; she had to experience it in the afterlife as well to break her further, for Hastur didn't want death to be a kind mistress soothing Ater's injuries. No, he wanted her to suffer because she was a demon, just as he would make all other angels suffer the same pain because the angels were all inferior to him in his eyes. His arrogant superiority justified that in his evil mind.

When the armies did arrive—and they would because he predicted it while claiming it was by his own 'divine providence' which would smite the entire Sun Heaven as punishment since the angels here hadn't initially accepted him because of the cruel demands he wanted them to provide for his own benefit—he would indeed kill Ater before. Next, he would simply flee to another locale and watch the carnage unfold while the militaries were crushing the remains of his forces. To him, that was something a deity might've done by passively observing the conflict to judge both victors and losers on a critical basis by denouncing both as sinful heretics to his personal designs. Though it was a personal thought, he knew no other deities would've done that because they didn't condone such behavior as it was unlike a deity. It was more like something a Devil or demon could've done instead, but Hastur wasn't either of those types of individuals. Nevertheless, he implemented what other deities held disdain for in his ideals for becoming the God of Existence over everyone along with everything. Nobody would stop him, for he would utterly torture and then annihilate them. It was crucial for him to be uninvolved in the conflict since he needed to get away to fulfill his goals.

And while he was doing so, and when he did, no one would be spared the torture he would continue to inflict on everybody simply because they were all inferior to him in his twisted mind.

"Lord Hastur!" one of his subordinates spoke up as he approached the other angel who now turned to face the paladin addressing him. "Our forces are in place for the armies of the Corporate Heaven, Gray Garden, and Flame Underworld. We are ready to defend this place with our lives at a moment's notice, though we request your assistance on the battlefield. Our numbers are tiny due to the comparison our scouts made: three thousand, five hundred fifty-nine compared to their force of combined troops which totals roughly one hundred ninety thousand. We can't hope to hold out for too long as they will slaughter us all if we account for those numbers. However, we are already going to be victorious over them because numbers mean nothing as you've taught us. They might have eliminated a good chunk of our troops in other skirmishes and battles, but it just goes to show that they didn't believe in our cause to the fullest, just like Leihsuk himself. What are your orders?"

"Simple," Hastur replied to his question, averting his attention back to the cat demon under the intense torture since he wanted to continue watching her be subjected to it. "Place one thousand men per army in three separate units. Command all three to rush into the fray and to also disregard whatever traps our enemies will set. You are sun angels, the strongest and purest of divine angels. There is no way their numbers will eliminate any of yours, plus the traps will be ineffective against all of you. As for the remaining five hundred fifty-nine, send the five hundred into the portal as we will use them to send a message directly to Justim himself by having them destroy his capital city and raid the entirety of his world. The fifty-nine that are left shall stay within the Sun Inquisition."

"To act as ambush guards ready to decimate any opposing fools that make it this far through stealth by sneaking in, and also to continue applying the torture to this wretched demon," the other angel remarked to finish for him. "Understood, I shall instruct fifty of them to serve as an ambush unit while the nine left shall standby here to keep up the torture. If you would please excuse me."

"You are dismissed," Hastur commented to him as a priest strode in with a recent update.

"Lord Hastur, the armies have already arrived at our location and are in the midst of setting up their forces around the region. They have us surrounded with no hope of escape for us. Even so despite this grievous setback, we are prepared to deal with them. We are the superior force despite the low numbers, hence why we shall emerge victorious while all of them perish very miserably."

"Excellent, order the troops to charge forth at once," Hastur ordered as he got an idea.

…

Many yards away from where they stood was the very building that Hastur used as his main base: the Sun Inquisition. According to Lenny's information, it was like any of the other jails used to house demons and the spirits of heretics in this world. A bastille of impenetrable defenses, there was also something to be said about the dark history within this structure beyond the ruined town. Here the inmates were subjected to brutal torture unlike at other bastilles in this heaven, for worse offenders than petty criminals came here to be abused by their torturers. According to information acquired from a dilapidated library in the main citadel where a few squads went to explore the area for additional survivors to rescue and further knowledge of the civil war and other locations in the Sun Heaven, about a million deaths occurred within the Sun Inquisition more than any other prison. All of those deaths were caused by torturers and executioners stationed there once the inquisitors were finished with their interrogations of the prisoners. If there was ever a hell in a heaven, they'd have already found one—the Sun Inquisition, for this place truly fit the description of underworld treatment. Why the sun angels resorted to such barbarism was unclear, though perhaps it was zeal; zeal for the religious causes they advocated in the Land of the Sun as a basis of criminology.

Together they stood on a hill overlooking the entire space before them, observing the angels in Hastur's service prepare themselves for better. Averting his attention to the other two militaries stationed on other sides of their triangular offense, Kcalb watched Fumus and Ivlis prepare the two armies they commanded with the aid of their respective officers. Turning back to the sun angels in front of them, just a great distance across the dead wasteland plains and through the decrepit town, he narrowed his eyes while sensing how many of them his army had to face. Counting them up by the units of hundreds in which they formed their ranks, he concluded there were exactly a thousand, five hundred before them. Doing the same for the other two regiments his allies faced, Kcalb came to a total of two thousand troops, one thousand per ally of his. In total, there were three thousand, five hundred opponents in the perimeter; further sensing in the building yielded more troops: sixty-two, including Hastur himself. Yet he could also sense other life forms within the building as well.

One life force was barely flickering which worried him, but she was still alive and breathing for the time being. Ater was definitely in there, so they had to get troops in there right away to get to her in time. Otherwise she'd die and everyone would mourn the loss of her life. "Ater's in there."

"Is she alive?" Grora inquired of him, feeling the tension get to her despite her calm nature prior to this battle. She had already selected who'd go with her into the Sun Inquisition, acquiring the maps those squads retrieved from the citadel as well as blueprints of the building itself. Siralos himself apparently designed every aspect of this building, formulating the plans for its construction since his name was on the several forms of authorization for the building project. Maybe the deity who built it had become its prisoner since Hastur was now in control of it; it certainly seemed that may have been the case as Emalf sent over a brief report regarding Igls Unth's interrogation. She'd kept demanding they release her so she could save her father, thereby implying Siralos became the unexpected prisoner at some point during the turbulent civil war. "Ater's alright, isn't she, sir?"

"She's still alive, yes, though I don't think for very long," the Devil murmured gravely, his reply making Grora and Arbus swallow heavily as they stood beside him. "She's in a lot of pain."

"Ater…" the black haired cat demon's voice softened as she thought of what her sister had been through during her own imprisonment there. The terrible confinement she suffered under…it sent chills down her spine as she worried Ater might've died before they reached her in time. "She needs us…" She shuddered, fear for her twin sister's life driving her desire to save Ater onward.

"She does," Kcalb agreed and turned his attention towards them. "It looks like those angels are getting ready to charge, so I suggest the two of you head to your squad at once and head out to the rendezvous point near the hidden entrance into the Sun Inquisition. Fumus has supplied us with one of his trusted lieutenants, Rosemary, and Ivlis sent a flame demon necromancer named Ember. The two of them will meet up with you there; from there the eight of you shall enter the building."

Grora nodded. "Understood, sir Devil," she saluted him and strode away, attired in Siri's Iridescence with Sylvan's Eye strapped to her back along with a quiver of a hundred elven arrows. Her silver scimitars were clipped to the belt, and Etihw made sure to enchant them with an electric charge so that the two of them could produce a powerful thunderbolt when pressed together. With a wave of her hand she beckoned Arbus to follow her once the cat demon gave Kcalb a hug because she wanted to wish him well against the sun angels he had to fight. "Coming, Arbus?" she asked.

"At once," the feline commented and turned her head back to the Devil. "Good luck, Lord Kcalb," she said to him as he returned the hug and smiled warmly while stroking her left cheek.

"Good luck to you and your squad too, Arbus," he remarked and waved them off as he and the army prepared themselves for the assault. Watching them head for a nearby copse of trees over by a creek, he then raised his sword and began an elaborate speech for the army to raise moral. He complimented them on their beliefs in peace, encouraging them to fight alongside their friends and allies in this conflict and to aid them when needed. He also instructed them to spare lives whenever possible, but to try not killing them because murder was not the right way of handling this conflict. However, it was a last resort in order to protect the individuals cherished among themselves.

Hearing him continue to speak about their world's values and how dear those values were, Grora smiled as she thought back on how those ideals helped shape who she was now. Before she was a sinful criminal, somebody who served a man who sought to destroy everyone and everything for his own dark designs. Now she was beginning to rise again as an angel of justice for the crimes she and True Light committed in the past. She now stood for redemption and atonement by putting an end to the man who started it all: Hastur, for his death would be the end to his plans and painful torment he caused others. Shutting her eye, Grora breathed deeply as she commented on the speech Kcalb was making. "Good speech; he's certainly a changed man from who he once used to be."

"And what of you, Miss Grora?" Arbus inquired out of curiosity, though also because she'd been uncertain of where the angel's common sense and loyalties laid. "Have you also changed?"

"I'm still beginning to, but yes, I am making the serious attempt to."

Arbus frowned grimly. She still distrusted her, but chose to work with her to save her sister from Hastur's clutches. "We'll see about that, Miss Grora," she commented out of said distrust.

"Yes," Grora remarked in agreement with her. "You shall see, alright, Arbus."

Coming to the copse now, the pair found the rest of their squad seated around a small pond, tossing flat stones to skip them across the water as a way of passing the time. Hearing the two girls step forward after a few twigs snapped under their feet, Othros turned to greet them. "Great, we've got the whole gang here," he stated as Grora and Arbus approached a table established for them to look over the maps. With the maps in his possession, the bat demon went over with the others too and laid the blueprints on the table. Pointing a finger at the one covering the general vicinity, they could all see the layout before them as the main battlefield the armies were fighting on. "This right here is the battlefield for a frame of reference. I've circled the entire perimeter around the building since that's where Hastur's troops are located. Our army and those of Fumus and Ivlis are at these areas." He indicated the respective triangular positions with his finger. "Hastur could not possibly escape from this conflict, even with that minor warp spell he knows. He and his forces shall fall in any scenario because all of them are unfavorable to him. He could divide his forces into three units to combat the three armies, though defeat would be inevitable. The same goes for two units as well as the solitary unit consisting of the entire bulk. They could either defend the chokepoints marked with red dots, or simply rush out into the fray; both won't work. We've got siege weapons for the former option, and higher numbers for both of them too. In other words, Hastur has officially lost."

"He may have lost, but he won't go down without a fight," Rorin commented as Lenny put his finger on the map to show where the hidden entrance was while beginning an explanation about it to inform the rest of the group about its purpose and where the entrance led to inside the structure.

"This old drainage pipe at this lake-like symbol is our way in. When the executioners were finished with their rather morbid work, they would dispose of cadavers by dumping the corpses in a vat of boiling acid to dissolve them. The murky fluid was distilled and fermented to produce the most toxic substance in the Sun Heaven. In ages past, this was dumped into a landfill blessed by a collection of priests and clerics led by the Sun God—that's the aforementioned symbol here. While this means was ecologically safe for the entire world, including the Flame Underworld, Siralos did not follow the procedure according to some super-secret documents the squads uncovered before."

"Let me guess:" Grora theorized to arrive at the conclusion, "the Sun God used it as a very bad chemical weapon against the Flame Underworld to harm the demons there during wars, right?"

"Indeed, though it also goes beyond the scope of this business in his wars," Mitchell began the next part of the discussion. "There were some lands in this world's human realm that did not worship their sun; that is to say they didn't follow the same religious beliefs. Previous deities never resorted to using this vile substance against humans in those lands, but Siralos wholeheartedly did to forcefully convert them. There is not much information on what kind of substance it is as a slew of other ingredients were part of the mixture, so we don't have anything else to go on concerning this substance. It sounds very fishy if you ask me because the source of these unknown ingredients wasn't given, nor was a list of the ingredients. Even a list of staff working on its production was not available. There's got to be some sort of conspiracy involving them; that much I can reckon."

"Probably another conspiracy for Macarona to solve," Grora remarked to reference another conspiracy the young angel uncovered. "Hell, this literally shows Siralos was a lying scumbag." It was definitely an accusation even if untrue, though it was not unfounded due to the assertions.

"Perhaps, though maybe not to a certain extent," Rorin uttered while also pondering on the nature of this revelation regarding the Sun God. "The secrecy of these documents is one thing, but while he could've utilized other means of conducting an effort to convert other populations, it must not be ruled out as a possibility even for him to undertake if only necessary as a last resort. While the Heavenly Council would not condone it, I am certain they might actually have taken action on behalf of the humans depending on how severe this was regarding the dosage of how much was in use alongside any negative effects if any that sprang up. It does portray him as similar to Hastur; I can infer that much from the documents, so perhaps he might be pursuing some similar goals along with any other objectives that benefit his own causes in a similar manner as what Hastur did."

"In any case, it's our only entrance into the Sun Inquisition, right?" Arbus asked curiously.

"Sure is," Lenny replied while bringing the schematic of the pipe into the forefront. "We'll need to hope it's been cleaned and that Hastur's forces might not be using anytime soon. According to other documents recovered, the last time it was cleaned out was just a few days prior to the civil war. We've only been here for a few days—well, longer in my case—so it might be dirty from the standard filth that also passes through it from connecting pipelines that travel throughout the entire building as part of its plumbing and sewage system. It could also be a little rusty from disuse, since the documents also stated that the establishment was fully drained of all prisoners before the war."

"Great, it'll smell awful…" Grora murmured with a somber sigh. "At least that's probably the least of our worries. We might have to weed our way through some opposition, though we can definitely get in there to save Ater. She might not last too much longer, so we gotta make this quick for her—and maybe the Sun God too so Ivlis can have him if Siralos is really captive there or not."

"Luckily for us, we might not have to take on much of the burden ourselves. We will clearly contribute on our parts, though I'm saying we might not take part in much action due to Ember. It is a good thing we've got a necromancer like her on our side in this regard because of all the souls she can probably evoke from the dead," Othros explained the advantage in that. "This building has a lot of angry spirits, so many whom are angry at their tormentors and, if possible, anybody who's subjecting others to similar mistreatment they experienced in life as well. Hastur might have much higher numbers of troops in there than in our group, but Ember could practically raise a good chunk of undead souls to assist us by bearing part of the effort. We must find out how many she'll raise."

"Then what do we have to lose and what are we waiting for?" Mitchell asked rhetorically. "We've got to get right on this for Ater's sake, so let's head out right away and cover the distance at once. The rendezvous point should be right at the drainage pipe itself; let's get going pronto."

"Indeed, for this is an occasion where patience is not the virtue it usually is," Grora stated, raising an arm to signal the motion for them to move out as Othros packed the maps into his armor pockets. "We move out at once! Let's cross the terrain towards that drainage pipe! Our allies there will be waiting for us to finish dawdling; let's not make them impatient by wasting more time!"

Her team—everyone except Arbus—saluted her while nodding, concurring with the action. Once everything was ready with all of them prepared for the conflict ahead of them, the group had begun to proceed forward. Noise of fighting erupted from the battlefield as they rushed to the pipe.

Emerging from the dead woods surrounding their progress a short time later, they found the other two combatants already waiting for them outside the pipe. Walking forward at a quick pace, Grora examined the flame demon in the black robe that had a hood covering her head. It was made from silk and had a chain belt strapped to it so the girl could carry tomes with vials of poison or potions, plus the chain extended up to her shoulder and went around them to act as a backpack of sorts for other things that hung from her back like an ordinary staff with other utensils. She did not ever encounter a necromancer like Ember from another world, though knew the ones in the service of Kcalb during the war in their world were heavily armed as opposed to this flame demon who didn't come with much protection for herself. Getting closer to Ember and Rosemary—whom she met before since she was once sent to help establish trade routes between the Gray Garden and the Corporate Heaven—the angelic lady saw Ember's face. While her hood kept most of it unseen, Grora's eye pierced the shadows over it to catch sight of a crescent moon tattoo under her right eye and a scar under her other, both eyes being a bright shade of blue. Locks of red hair flowed down past her shoulders with two braided tails resting on the shoulder tops as she leaned on a tree.

"Ah, you've arrived, Miss Grora," Rosemary remarked and stepped forward to greet them, holding a hand out to shake Grora's. "These must be your associates for this assignment. I suppose we may save introductions for another time since we must be getting in there. Mr. Fumus ordered me to help you all take the Sun Inquisition from within while the fighting is going on. The armies shall help distract the forces out here to prevent them from returning to back up any units inside."

"Very well, Rosemary, glad to have you on board," Grora commented while nodding since she was acknowledging the angelic lass' presence and assistance to the effort. If she recalled right, Rosemary was an experienced tactician who could duel wield pistols and submachine guns. From their last meeting years ago, Grora also remembered that Rosemary could be pretty fast sometimes. "You'll make a welcome addition to our team for this mission." Averting her attention to their own temporary necromancer, Grora strode past her to begin inquiring about Ember's skills and arsenal. "You must be Ember, the necromancer Ivlis sent us." Looking her over from head to toe, catching sight of the leather soles of the other girl's boots, the angelic lady put a bent finger to her chin. "It seems like you'll be useful at first glance. Tell me, what are your capabilities in combat, Ember?"

"You already know I'm a necromancer," the flame demon responded nonchalantly. "To be clear, I am the only necromancer in the Flame Underworld. Pyromancy is a secondary skill of mine instead of it being my primary focus, though I can handle myself just as a well as the experts from the other factions. Give me a working corpse and I'll raise it, provided I have the appropriate means to do so. In a nutshell, I can resurrect any kind of undead in whatever form you desire in due time." Her rather blunt way of speaking matched the sharp tone of voice she used, something Grora liked about her at once just as she was also fond of how bleak and dismal Ember was. For someone like her named after a small flame, this aspect certainly matched her character. She could've become a much bigger fire, though sounded content with her role and the skillset she must've been good at.

"Perfect, you'll do just fine," the angel remarked. "How many undead can you raise?"

"However many you require, though the maximum at one time is a total of ten at most. I'll revive more, including any that have fallen, but ten's the highest. More makes me lose control."

"Are spirits in your repertoire?"

"But of course; still, the ten limit maximum still applies," Ember answered her again.

"Very well, thank you for your cooperation with us, Ember. We shall not forget any of the contributions you make to the team," Grora remarked and gave a signal to move into the pipe. "It's time to move out at once. We'll discuss more on the way as we go along. Time is of the essence." Leading her squad into the drainage pipe and heading through it, she and the others were forced to cover their noses and mouths with ethereal masks Ember conjured for them with her magic. Ember didn't need one herself since she was used to such decaying, putrid smells in crypts and catacombs she normally explored in the Flame Underworld whenever searching through the tombs there. She remained quiet, sensing the spiritual energy within this place to filter anything useful to them while Grora continued to talk, this time addressing Othros. "Othros, since you seem to have studied all the maps for this place, can you inform us of what the best route is to emerge safely if possible?"

"If you're asking me about the plumbing system and its sewage, there's a network of paths we could use. The quickest means of arriving at our destination is to just follow this one and climb the ascension up. However, that could most likely lead us into a trap," the bat demon explained for them. "Side passages do exist, though some could be blocked whereas others would require means of unlocking the way ahead. Up ahead is an intersection splitting off in several different directions: straight ahead is the path towards the torture chamber; the others lead to various shower rooms as well as the dining hall and kitchen down one pipe. Any route could be guarded based on how many enemies we encounter at whichever particular end, even if we split up and go different ways."

"I see, any route forward could likely lead to a trap," Grora concurred with his logic while addressing Ember next. "Ember, do you think you could also sense living presences in addition to dead ones? Sir Devil from our world hadn't told us how many we'd encounter, though we do know three thousand, five hundred are in the field fighting our respective armies. Is it possible?"

"Possible, yes, though it can take time to distinguish the living from the dead," Ember said in response to the inquiry. "So far, I count a total of sixty-two life forms in this building; these are the living, everyone else I feel is dead. Of the sixty-two, I can go further in categorizing them as a means of additional clarification: fifty-nine are sun angels; one is an angel whose scent is actually reminiscent of yours; a demon who also bears a similar scent, and the Sun God himself, confirming he is indeed here as his daughter implied. The angels are split into six different units of ten whom are scattered around the building: four units are working as ambush units in the mess hall alongside three shower rooms which are a tactical distance apart from others that can be reached in time; one more is in the control room keeping in contact with the outside forces; and the last I'm unsure of."

"Where do you estimate the final unit to be?" Rorin asked as Ember merely shrugged.

"Could be anywhere, though I'd wager they're in a field of powerful magic I'm sensing in the general vicinity of the torture chamber and innermost dungeon. This field of magic is powerful, and I can sense it consists of two different kinds of magic: Devilish magic and regular black magic. The latter is not as strong as the former since it can be wielded by both human practitioners as well as regular demons—the former of whom take longer to master it whereas the latter is born with it as inherent abilities that must still be honed throughout the course of one's lifecycle—though what has just been mentioned as the former is a kind of magic only a Devil can use. The mixture of both together is enhancing the power of this negativity, making it had to pinpoint the location of the last unit because it is also being combined with the souls of all whom had perished through torture and death. I am currently attempting to filter through the dead souls so I can cleanse them of this taint, thereby allowing me to assume dominance over the souls. So far, about two thousand are done."

"Two thousand?!" Rosemary exclaimed in surprise. "Damn, you must be a strong demon!"

"My demonic nature does contribute to it, yes, though this feat also comes from practice. I have had several centuries to hone my craft, and am one of the few who has retained full sanity. A necromancer with less experience than I would fall into the depths of insanity and go feral. If they were to cross the final threshold into lichdom, they would be very powerful indeed; though not as strong as a lich with pure sanity, for one would be able to have better control over psychedelic and psychologic systems of the brain. However, lichdom is a dangerous threshold to path through, for it can obliterate those elements if one is unprepared to fully cross over when exchanging humanity for immortality and knowledge unknown to all but those who successfully survive the plunge."

"Would you ever become a lich if the opportunity presented itself?" Mitchell asked her.

"No, the price is too high; there are things normal beings—humans and beings of both the divinely holy and demonic natures—should not ever know. Only the rarest of liches can survive a powerful bombardment of what is provided and granted to them when they turn. None exist to my knowledge, for all I know of have perished before the might of such power; that is to say, my tutor and several fellow students under him succumbed to the darkest of darkness necromancy gave due to a failed experiment, or ritual if you will depending on the angle you approach it from. This was an incident that made necromancy illegal in the Devil's Kingdom, but other underworlds still make use of it at times. However, its usage has sunken below the radar due to this and other failures too."

"I guess we're luckier than normal to have you," Grora remarked, the comment about how rare liches could've lived through the process of becoming liches reminding her of Aleista. They'd begun to get closer to the intersection when she spoke up again to address Othros once more. "Tell me, Othros, what do you suggest we do regarding which path to take: go straight ahead, or go over to an alternate route for safety? Should we split up, and if so, how many groups may be needed?"

"We can't diverge from the path!" Arbus protested. "We've got to save Ater right now!"

"I know, we will while also accomplishing any other objectives," Grora said reassuringly.

"Ater's straight ahead, though that might bring us into the miasma of the darkness Ember's sensing," the bat demon began to explain an option they could consider. "Going straight would be putting us in the thick of it, or at least on the edge. Still, if the sun angels are in close proximity, a good idea would be to split up. As she said, four units of ten—forty foes in total—are separated in the dining area, kitchen, and three shower rooms. We could split into four groups of two to handle them; three head to the shower rooms where three groups can aid each other while the fourth takes the dining and kitchen areas. Doing so would clear up the area, leaving twenty soldiers left to fight. Then we could split into two groups, one to take the control room, the other to the torture chamber."

"I could partner up with someone and use the spells in my repertoire," Mitchell offered.

"It does sound like a plan that will ensure our odds of success are better than simply heading in without taking care of enemy activity," Grora concurred with the idea. "Taking on each of those soldiers at once could cost us more time, and Hastur would have probably killed Ater by the time we're through with his minions if he hasn't already. Granted, he could do that anyway despite the fact we'd be splitting up. Still, the less resistance we have to deal with then, the better; thereby we shall attack the individual units in squads with two teams regrouping to attack the control room so any allies nearby can storm the place. Are there any objections to this plan, or any other ideas?"

"Who cares if we have to fight all of them at once?! Just get me to Ater and we'll save her! I can get her out of here while you all cover me!" Arbus exclaimed, putting forth another plan.

"That's if we do end up fighting all of them at once like I said," the angelic archer remarked to acknowledge the notion Arbus contributed. "However, like I had also mentioned, he might still have time to kill her while we're preoccupied with fifty-nine troops. To be fair, Ember could raise enough spirits and convince them to fight for us, though we'd need to protect while she prepares."

"One does not simply invoke the spirits of the dead immediately; it'll take valuable time to fully control any undead being and use it as a thrall," the flame demon necromancer responded as she continued to explain her role. "I wear no armor and use no weapons save for a staff that could enhance my capabilities as a necromancer. Although I possess an abundance of magic, the number of spells I know as a pyromancer are limited, plus I can only focus on one discipline at a time. It'll be far more efficient to assault less enemies than the full onslaught for better concentration on my craft as a necromancer. Furthermore, my skills as a pyromancer can clear out less enemies at once."

"I suppose it's decided then," Grora raised her voice slightly as she began to file the squad into four different teams with assigned roles. "We'll split into four pairs. Othros, where could that torture chamber be in regards to its proximity in the building? What's the closest entrance to it?"

"The shower rooms, mainly the one closest to the armory which is down that pipe." As the squad had now reached the intersection, he pointed over at a pipe near the northeast of where they stood. "The other two are the ones opposite it diagonally and horizontally. As for the kitchen along with the dining hall, that pipe is just to the left of the one leading to the torture chamber ahead."

Grora nodded, standing on the platform with them as she contemplated who'd go where. It might've taken time, but she had to make split-second decisions and stick with them. If Grora had more time, she could take more factors into consideration. "Rorin and Ember shall take the dining hall and kitchen while Lenny and Rosemary shall head up to the shower room closest to where the control room is located. The four of you will then regroup and head there next to combat whatever foes are left. As for the remaining four, Othros and Mitchell will take a shower room as Arbus and I go up another. We four will regroup if necessary, or remain separated if there is a higher level the two of you can attack from; Arbus and I shall take the lower level in that case. Is this all clear?"

"Very well; Rosemary, Lenny, the pipe you two want shall be located right over there," the bat demon said and pointed out which pipe it was for them. "The lower lever pipe for you two will be the one over there." He pointed at another for Grora and Arbus. "That leaves the last for us."

"Alright, let's get moving team, we have to get through these enemy ambush blockades as soon as possible," Grora waved her arm again to give them all the signal to move out. "Otherwise we'll lose Ater and Hastur will get away. You have your instructions, now get to your stations." A quick moment of brief goodbyes and best wishes from everyone to everyone—Ember was the only one who remained solemn throughout this matter—occurred before everybody left to the assigned duties. Splitting up from their friends and associates, the angelic archer and cat demon hoped they would be alright just as the two of them hoped they would too. Of the pair, Grora took point as she drew her scimitars in case any of the sun angels made an attempt to ambush them early on. While she was calm, steadying her nerves to remain collected and focused on the task ahead of the teams, Arbus was fretting over the feared death of her sister. She may not have shown it, but she'd begun to sweat bullets and shiver softly as what may have been Ater's imminent death was approaching. "Soothe your nerves, Arbus," Grora attempted to assure her with the thought that Ater was indeed alive even if she wasn't well. "I need you to focus and contribute your efforts to this mission since Ater needs you. Losing control over your emotions will not help in the slightest." This lesson may have been imbued within the angel's mind for a long time, though she hadn't expressed awareness of it whenever she abused the cat demons. However, now she fully acknowledged it was present.

"And just how do you know we'll succeed?! What if he's killed Ater by now already?!"

"Trust me, Arbus, I know the man well. He'll do anything to make whatever sick points of his heard, and he'll go to any lengths to fulfill those ideas and try to prove them as truths. However, they are not truths; just the cruel, tyrannical insanity of a man full of himself who hates others. He despises other angels equally the same as he does hate demons too, but he will not kill them unless he can use them to make a point. Think about it: killing Ater at once would still leave us with some different beliefs as to what her status might be. We could still believe he hadn't killed her yet until our armies arrived; alternatively, we could also believe he already killed her. Sir Devil definitely confirmed she was still alive, meaning the former is true. Now, Hastur could've also made a show of slaughtering Ater right in front of the armies—particularly ours—in an attempt to enrage us for the sake of trying to make us angry on purpose. That way we wouldn't be able to focus clearly and pin blame on our allies, blaming them for failing to help us save Ater even though we'd defeat our foes anyway. Why he didn't choose that means there is another option he took; I suspect he did."

"Which is…?" Arbus asked hesitantly since she was scared of what Grora might say.

"That Hastur chose to wait for our arrival to kill her. Ember also confirmed Ater's alive as well, indicating he still didn't kill her yet. Once we walk into the torture chamber, we'll need some time and a distraction of sorts to save Ater from him. Hastur would waste time to monologue about how perfect he is and how that's his 'proper justification' for committing the crimes he claims are his way of proving he's divinely omnipotent over everyone else and that they must accept it. Using this as our opening, you and I both must serve as his distraction so Othros and Mitchell can swoop in to save her. Once Ater's out of harm's way, you must go with them as they take her to safety."

"So we're just going to run away with her while Hastur gets away?!" Arbus protested, not realizing there was another component of Grora's plan that wasn't addressed yet. "He could return to cause more trouble for us, he can probably flank us while we retreat from him and this place!"

"He won't," Grora reassured her, turning her head back to face Ater. "I'll face him myself."

The black haired cat demon blinked in surprised confusion. "Wha…?"

"That's right, you heard me correctly, Arbus. I will fight Hastur to give you time to escape with Ater," the angel confirmed what she just said with additional emphasis for clarification. "Use that opportunity I'll be providing you with to flee and get Ater out of here at once. You'll head for the other team and regroup with them; instruct them to help save Ater. Nobody is to interfere with our fight; as my deputy for this mission, I am placing you in command of this operation from then. You shall order them to not return for me since I need to fight Hastur alone; he started everything, and I helped him with it in the past. It's only right that I be the one to end it to atone for everything I've done back then with him. I repeat this again, Arbus: no one must come back for me at all."

Arbus eyes' widened in shock. Although she still distrusted Grora, she couldn't believe the proposal the angelic archer was putting forward. "But you'll die! He will kill you even if he dies!"

Grora shut her eye and sighed, breathing deeply as she prepared herself for the very specific scenario her comrade was putting forth. It was possible after all, even with Siri's Iridescence. She at first thought it might've been possible to return alive because she wore Etihw's armor, but now it seemed like returning alive in one piece even with a few injuries wasn't too possible. The flame demon necromancer in their group said the darkness ahead was a mixture of Devilish and demonic magic, a substance that could've made the fight difficult even with a Goddess' armor. "I know that all too well at this point, Arbus…though it no longer matters to me. What becomes of me is up for grabs, really. I can only allow fate to decide my destiny, to determine if my path will end here." It was a rather mournful notion, though Grora couldn't change it even if she wanted to. She thought Arbus was going to speak up and say something against that, but interjected before the cat demon could. "Do not think about it, Arbus. What happens is what happens; we cannot change that despite possibly wanting to." Catching sight of a grated manhole in the ceiling above them as they started to approach it, the angelic lady held a hand up to stifle any further communication regarding what Grora decided on. "Get ready, this must be our entrance seeing as how the pipe ends here, Arbus."

"Alright…" the cat demon replied, complying with the instruction by drawing her weapon. The trident materialized as they ascended into the air by flying up a few feet. Putting one scimitar into her mouth, Grora used her free hand to push the manhole out of their way so they could emerge through it. However, she held Arbus back while using the darkness around them as cover so she'd be able to analyze the direction they were looking in. There was a platform with two sun angels at the railing, both having readied spells to attack the girls. Recalling that a bit of the schematics had displayed the shower rooms as being in the shape of squares with a control booth for the water on a diagonal point, Grora made an assumption that there were two sun angels per side with the other two in the control booth. "How shall we proceed, Miss Grora?" Arbus asked, wondering if Grora's calculations regarding the placement of enemy troops determined what their course of action was.

Hearing the sound of gushing water, Grora quickly flew back into Arbus and seized the cat demon by the collar of her armor to pull her towards the side. "Stay back for now!" the angel said in a hushed whisper as water poured into the pipe, narrowly hitting them despite splashing the two of them. "Let the water flow until they shut it off; then I'll shoot arrows at the two we can see."

Neither of them had to wait long, but they could hear more water being flushed throughout the other drainage pipes due to the echoes they heard. Hoping their companions in the other teams were alright, they heard somebody call out in the room above them. "Have they drowned yet?!"

"Unclear, someone go down to check!" another sun angel responded.

"Looks like we've got ourselves our first target," the angelic lady whispered, hearing wings beating against the air as a pair of footsteps indicated one of their foes landed near the manhole. It took a few seconds of cautionary dread, the fear of them being spotted and slain coursing through their veins since that could've ended their lives. Yet they were lucky because Grora seized a chance to do some damage, forcefully yanking the sun angel cleric who poked his head down into the hole to check if the two of them were dead or gone. Wielding one of the scimitars, she held him directly by his neck to drive the blade into his stomach and slash upwards. "One down," she remarked with sounds of panic ringing throughout the room. A wave of spells poured through the hole, but Grora and Arbus were lucky they weren't hit. That was when she moved away from the wall after getting Sylvan's Eye drawn, nocking two arrows and shooting them into the sun angels she could see.

With three foes taken care of, the angelic lady darted through the opening while nocking a couple more arrows, narrowly avoiding another wave of divine lightning spells that clashed against the floor around the manhole. Arbus couldn't make it out in time, but at least she avoided the blast by ducking to the side once more before emerging once Grora slew two more sun angels and went behind a wall to avoid more holy thunder. Five of their opponents were now dead, leaving a couple of the sides free of sun angels. Now that the number had lessoned, Arbus quickly rushed to cover, hiding behind a pillar to avoid more thunder and lightning. This wave finished too, and she used a few seconds of the opportunity presented to her to throw her trident at the remaining sun angel on the third side. It embedded itself in his chest and he fell back, struggling to remove it to stay alive.

"They've breached our defenses! Use the light orbs!" a sun angel in the control booth said as the remaining two sun angels outside it were joined by the third of the remaining four. With the staves they carried outstretched, they chanted an incantation together to produce orbs of explosive light that materialized around the angelic lady and her demonic companion. However, the pair had dodged the attack, proving they were simply too fast. Nocking three more arrows while Arbus flew to collect her trident, Grora shot the three sun angels to leave only one target left. Although Arbus' prey still had her weapon in his chest for a bit, he pulled it out only for her to seize the handle and drive it back in to impale him. With his death, there was just the one final opponent left within the control booth. "Damn you both!" she cursed at them, drawing her blade while attempting to leave. Unfortunately for the paladin, Grora embedded two arrows in each of the doors leading to the rest of the balcony overlooking the shower room, effectively trapping her inside. There was a door she could've used to escape and regroup with Hastur's unit, though Arbus immediately took flight and threw the trident again which shattered the window and embedded itself in the paladin's chest.

"Good work, Arbus," Grora complimented the cat demon on her throw while kicking away shards of broken glass to clear an opening for them to enter. Arbus followed her inside as the angel began to briefly interrogate their final opponent from this skirmish. "Where the hell is Hastur?"

The paladin smiled sinisterly. "The torture chamber…the cat demon…will die soon…"

"Thank you for your cooperation, now rot in hell," Grora retorted coldly with a nonchalant facial expression, removing Arbus' weapon from her and turning it over to the black haired feline. As she was still addressing the paladin, however, the angelic archer immediately turned her into a position so Grora could snap her neck. "You wouldn't have survived such a grievous wound if you didn't have a healer with you. Consider that the final mercy you shall receive from us so you won't have to experience the humiliation of being charged with whatever crimes you committed for him."

"Was it necessary to kill her, Miss Grora? We could have asked where the torture chamber is," Arbus pointed out for her, though Grora already had that covered since she recalled the plans.

"It'll be down the hall to our right once we step through this door and take a sharp left over to a stairwell leading down into the basement. There, we make another left and take the last right, thereby reaching our destination. I still remember the path from the blueprints," she explained for her comrade. "And yes, killing her was necessary; though she was a criminal, at least she died an honorable death instead of facing trial for crimes Hastur had her commit with the other sun angels. That would've been terrible for her and her companions since they could receive any punishment, including execution. Thankfully for her, I took the judgment into my own hands so she would not have to suffer the long wait and chances of living with a lesser charge. If she lived, she'd feel that humiliation I mentioned and could either live in shame with it, or commit suicide to escape it. This way she doesn't experience either, but instead receives the honorable death she believes she earned even if any of her crimes weren't moral. You get what I'm saying, Arbus?" Grora asked, averting her attention to the black haired kitty. "Sometimes it's better to die with honor no matter what one has done in life, including any sins the individual committed. It'll be your way out of humiliation, and you can make the choice to keep fighting for the honorable death instead of dying as a coward."

Although she could understand what Grora was saying fully well, Arbus began to think she couldn't accept it that well. In her eyes, Grora was atoning for the abuse she put her and her sister through. By helping to save Ater, the angel was acquiring that atonement even if she didn't receive forgiveness from either of the cat demons. Yet she was striding forward while accepting death, the honorable death she mentioned most likely being what she sought to escape her own guilt. Arbus' thoughts about that made her feel sorry for Grora despite everything that occurred in their lives as the decision Grora might've made was to die fighting Hastur. And if she did die, she'd take Hastur with her straight to the depths of any hell they'd both go to. "Are you planning to die, Miss Grora?"

"If I do, so be it," the archer replied, opening the door while leading Arbus over to the stairs where they'd descend towards the torture chamber. "My fate rests in the hands of fate itself, Arbus. My life shall only be determined by fate alone, as it will be the deciding factor determining whether I live or die. One thing is certain, however; I am dragging Hastur down with me, forcefully taking him into the bony arms of death as we descend far deeper than any hell imaginable. He will die."

The two girls ran to their destination, ignoring the feeling of dread from death and darkness.

…

 **One more chapter left to go; Grora vs. Hastur! What shall happen, and who will win?! Stay tuned for the final confrontation of** _Atonement_ **soon as possible! I'll try to make it epic.**

 **Regarding the techniques and tools related to torture, I found a list of such techniques on Wikipedia, so go there to check this stuff out if you want. There is also another reference to Boromir's line from Lord of the Rings, though I already put up the disclaimer in an earlier chapter, so I'm not going to put it up again because there is no need for another one again.**


	30. Chapter Thirty: VS Hastur - Last Fight

"Grora…"

"Hastur…"

This was it, the final battle between her and Hastur. He had stayed uninvolved in her life a long time ago until he returned, facing her in those old stables she'd taken Froze to for a chance to have some bonding time with the young angel. She was unarmed then whereas he was, though she pledged to do everything in her power and abilities to take her old boss and lover down. That was then, and she still strived to defeat him even with the restriction to leave him alive placed on her. When they last fought, she had friends who worked in the castle's garden with her; now she only had Arbus. Last time he held back at the church of True Light's old base, leading to a small victory. It was different now, for he was not going to hold back anymore since he no longer had restrictions, similar limits placed upon him too by Siralos. With the Sun God out of the picture—he must have still been alive regardless—Hastur could fight at his fullest; so could Grora, now that Etihw lifted the limit against killing him. This day one of them would surely die, and if it was her she'd manage to find a way to drag his ass down with her to the grave once and for all as this place was a grave.

In the past, they fought twice. Back when Grora returned to True Light's base after she had confessed her sins and led the authorities to Dying Souls Mine, she and Hastur fought against one another then. She duel wielded her scimitars against his katanas, though lost because he was faster and more skilled than her. Hastur was quite intelligent when it came to calculations, though he led others to their deaths on purpose to try and prove he was superior regardless of whether they were angels or demons. Tactics and speedy calculations made Hastur a dangerous opponent, especially when said calculations were always spot-on and precise due to him deducing the speed of how fast an opponents' attacks were. It gave him a superior edge over Grora in their first fight as he inflicted severe wounds on her even though she parried the majority of his attacks and blocked them while dodging slashes. Even so, that gave him enough time to make calculations to determine how fast she was and compare her speed with his. She lost that day, falling to him as she continued to swear she'd claim vengeance against him for all of the things he'd done to her and everyone else who was killed by them for the sake of traditions. Traditions the Gray Garden deviated from for peace.

That was their first fight, but not their last. That second encounter at the church could have been the last if he hadn't fled, but now Grora made sure this would be the final fight between them. Only she could do this for everything they'd done in the past, to set everything right for those who had fallen to them via the murderous torture they put innocent victims of their campaign through.

This time would be different. This time he'd die…

"You came, just as I expected yet again, Grora," Hastur commented aloud to speak to her. All around the pair consisting of his two foes were six of the nine sun angels in his unit. The other three were near him and some of the torture apparatuses, though two were not seen at the moment. He stood atop a small gallows with a guillotine upon it as well in addition to the nooses along with a Catherine wheel, addressing her as if he had predicted she'd come. Somehow he knew all along she would be his opponent, just as he always did apparently. Even if he always didn't say it, there was still a possibility he really did expect her arrival at times. "I knew you'd be here, trying to flail about aimlessly without purpose in your pitiful attempts to kill me. You always were a failure."

"Says the guy who couldn't become the Commander-in-Chief of our army during the war," Grora spat nonchalantly, not wanting to stoop to his level of petty invectives. Nevertheless, she'd done so anyway because of the plan. On their way to the torture chamber, she and Arbus regrouped with Othros and Mitchell who had located a way in from above. As the angelic lady suggested, the idea was for her and the cat demon to distract Hastur and the other sun angels with him, giving the other two time to infiltrate quietly and sneak over to a position where they could be of aid. Though Grora wasn't fond of having to use a petty argument for that purpose, she acknowledged its use of drawing attention to her and Arbus. "You earned a lot of promotions to other positions, Hastur, like becoming our Marshall; though even you were subjected to Rigatona's orders as she outranked you despite that. You think I'm flailing about without any purposes? It's quite the opposite actually since I'm here to actually kill you. I'll not fail that today, even if I must drag you down to hell."

"Wrong, Grora, you can't; you were ordered to apprehend me last time and failed that," he countered her retort with one of his own before she used another against him with some good logic.

"Exactly, as I was ordered to; that was a mistake Lady Etihw and Sir Devil won't be making again. I assure you, that restriction is no more just as your own, Hastur. You held back when we fought last; now you don't have to. Neither of us does anymore; I'm sure you'll be aware of that too." Although he probably hadn't known, she made sure to butter him up in that regard. Doing so would've contributed to lengthening the monologue he'd give to them while the others snuck in.

"Indeed." Hastur took the bait, likely not realizing it was a mistake on his part. Maybe he'd been aware of that anyway, but didn't care since he felt doing so wouldn't have changed anything. "And now I am no longer weighed down by that wretch of a miserable God gone insane from those intruders sent by your putrid world. I suppose I should be thanking you, but you don't deserve that much because you and everyone else in your world is inferior to me in each and every way."

"You're welcome all the same, though bear in mind we hadn't sent those intruders even if they came from the Gray Garden," Grora clarified for him, lengthening the dialogue between them. "That was a separate issue between them and the Sun God. I'm well aware these are merely words without tangible evidence to support the concept; in any case, that didn't involve you and us at all. But speaking of Siralos, where is he? What became of the Sun God after he'd gone insane?"

"Simple: I displayed his condition to the public that Igls Unth concealed him from and they ignited a rebellious revolution against them. Sun angels flocked to my side, though I let Igls Unth and a party of insignificant civilian curs fight amongst themselves while my spies tore up her side with their silver tongues. My own party and I captured him in the civil war, torturing him because he was weak and inferior to me. He did not deserve to become a God, Grora, nobody does; nobody else but me is capable of that. You may say that I am not a God yet, and while this is true, I proved I already am fully prepared and am already ready to accept that power. It is mine; it belongs to me, nobody else. Only I shall be a God because I was already entitled to it since I am absolutely perfect whereas everyone else isn't. Ergo, I alone will receive that position as it's already mine, Grora."

"You're a liar!" Arbus shouted at him, getting involved too. "These guys can betray you!"

"They don't because they're loyal to me and believe I am worthy of becoming a God."

"Then I suppose their loyalty is sadly gravely misplaced," Grora commented, throwing the sun angels quick glances to look them over. The ones around them were paladins, and the one next to him was a priest. The other two could have been either paladins, priests, or clerics. She admired their commitment to him in light of what they were hearing from her and their leader, though Grora knew they were being foolish by putting their pride first above common sense and logic. "They do hear us, you know?" she then voiced that notion to put it out there, checking how loyal they were.

Hastur scowled at her. "Stupid woman, of course they can hear us. They know you're both dead wrong just as you'll both be dead soon enough with your comrade." His allusion to Ater made Arbus angry as the cat demon began to snarl at him for threatening the lives of them and her sister.

"You bastard! Give Ater back to us now, or so help me I will end you myself, you jerk!"

The angelic antagonist merely snapped his fingers, summoning the other two sun angels to the forefront. "Step forward; show the demon's pitiful form to them and let them charge blindly." His henchmen complied with the order, dragging the unconscious form of Ater so Arbus and Grora could see the damage done to her. Their eyes widened in horrified shock, their mouths gaping open as they witnessed the sight in front of them. Ater…no longer looked recognizable that much since the torture left her completely disfigured and covered in deep gashes and swollen lumps of bruises. Some bare flesh was showing because some of her skin was missing, and parts of her bones could even be made out too. Unsheathing his katana, Hastur swung it around as if it was a baton before pointing the sharp end of his blade at her. "You want her back alive? Take her if you can dare to."

His challenge was easily acceptable in their situation because it enraged the girls. Now that she'd seen the condition he'd put Ater into, Arbus' rage intensified, boiling over within her as her whole face turned red with seething anger. She was literally on the verge of charging forward into combat to kill him, but remembered that was her mistake when she fought him last. Yet Grora was also the other factor keeping her back since she took the cat demon's shoulder in her hand. "No, not now, Arbus. He will pay soon enough," the angelic lady instructed her, forcing herself to keep calm while addressing Hastur next. "Let her go, Hastur. She has already suffered enough as it is."

"Absolutely not; she still needs to suffer because she must suffer just because I say so since she's a pathetic demon," her old boss and lover denied her request coldly in a bitter tone of voice.

"She's not your opponent, I am," Grora insisted, trying to negotiate with him for more time Othros and Mitchell needed to get into position. The two demons had already entered the chamber with the sun angels unaware of their presence because they were focusing on the girls. Even Hastur was also distracted by them too, giving Mitchell and Othros the valuable time they needed to ready a sneak attack from the flank to rescue Ater. "She may have been one of our victims, but she wasn't ever a part of what we fought for and what the Gray Garden became to angels and demons. You've no right to drag an otherworldly individual like her into the conflict for traditional values, Hastur."

"I'll not repeat myself except just this once, Grora," Hastur rebuked her argument. "She is a demon; that in of itself is perfect justification for torturing and killing her regardless of wherever she's originally from. The same can go for angels who do not take the fight to the demons in their worlds. If they fought demons, our pathetic world wouldn't have been overrun by their demons."

"There goes the insane logic running through your head, Hastur," his old subordinate stated to prove him wrong on that. "We don't have many foreign angels, demons, and other similar beings in the Gray Garden, so you're wrong about that. It isn't justification for murdering anyone, whether they were born in our world or not and later came to our world. You're just using it as your excuse to commit murder and betray everyone after using them as pawns and tools all so you can become a God. Unfortunately for you, we've got this place surrounded and there's nowhere to run now."

"For you and your associates and allies. Even now my forces are slaughtering the superior numbers in yours and are not experiencing any casualties whatsoever. They're already victorious, for you've already lost as I already decreed it, Grora. I did plan for this to happen, for I set each of the events in motion all by myself singlehandedly. Face the light of my truth; accept it, die for it."

"Like hell, you still don't get it, do you Hastur?" Grora inquired, trying to not draw any of the attention they received towards the plan. "The Sun Inquisition is already surrounded. The army under you was gravely outnumbered and could not hope to escape. They're being captured and are also dying because you're sending them to their deaths. Not even you can escape this siege intact."

"There's no need to because you still already lost," Hastur stuck to that belief of his. "Even if I did want to escape, I would most certainly do so. In fact, I would've already done it at once."

"Thereby losing the loyal commitment of your troops," the angelic archer rationalized.

"Untrue, they would still retain their loyalty. They know I'm to be a God and will sacrifice their lives to ensure I become one because it has already been predetermined by me. They are that loyal to me, whereas your allies aren't," Hastur began to accuse their friends and other associates, claiming they weren't being faithful to Grora and Arbus. "They sent the two of you in here alone. Although you may have eliminated one of the ambush units established to kill you on sight, there's still many more in here that you've yet to kill, just like the wretched curs we killed in the past."

"That was then, and this is now," Grora declared, choosing this moment to draw her blades while letting Arbus draw her trident. They were not going to charge forward yet, but were waiting for the right moment. The two of them could see their comrades already in position, their weapons at the ready too as they inched closer stealthily. "You are correct, I did kill innocent people for the traditional beliefs we advocated for. That was until I discovered the truth you purposely laid out a long time ago, the truth that opened my eyes to what we were doing. Now I'm fighting for a much different set of beliefs, beliefs that are worth fighting for. Though I may have killed some of those comrades you don't even hold in high regard, it was to give them honorable deaths so they did not have to face the charges against them." She pointed a scimitar at him. "Hastur, it ends here today!"

"As it does, Grora," he replied to her and raised an arm to signal for his soldiers to kill her and Arbus on the spot. "As it does, and so shall it be according to my designs. Now die, Grora." It took only a second for him to lower his arm at a quick pace, though that was what his two intended victims counted on. That signal of his was also theirs, and they were gladly grateful to have pulled their plan to save Ater off. In that instant, a circle of magical power appeared beneath the two sun angels before exploding to entrap them in a prism of ice. The startled priest near Hastur whirled to confront whoever did that before a set of crossbow bolts embedded themselves into his legs which made the man collapse off balance into the drainage pipe. Making their entrance into the fight at once, Othros rushed to the equipment to flush the priest away while Mitchell used a powerful ward spell to block a strike from Hastur as he saved Ater. The two demons rejoined the girls as Grora and Arbus moved back to plunge their weapons into the sun angels who were behind them. Letting Mitchell and Othros take care of the two in front of them, the girls then took out the remaining two paladins while the monkey demon laid Ater down on the floor, turning to direct his blade of wind at Hastur while Othros also did the same with his crossbows to ensure their foe didn't attack yet.

"Ater!" Arbus whimpered mournfully, her voice sounding like it was wailing Ater's name while she spoke softly try and get through to her sister. She figured her poor twin suffered through plenty of horrible assaults on her via the vile torture she'd been through which was why she turned down the volume of her voice. Ater's ears were probably ringing and she couldn't hear Arbus due to that, possibly having gone deaf too from all the pain they dealt to her. The white haired feline's eyes were still shut tight, swollen heavily from abacination; she could not open them, therefore not being able to see who was around her at this very moment. "Ater, just hold on! We'll get you away from this place! Speak to me, Ater, say something to let me know you're okay! Please, don't die!"

"It's no use, Arbus, she's out cold and will need medical attention at once," Grora told her, walking forward with her scimitars at the ready. Directing them at Hastur, she didn't dare take her eye off of him even as she gave the order for them to flee. "Get her out of here this instant. Othros, Mitchell, I need you two to protect Arbus as she spirits her sister to safety. You know the drill, so get out of here now. Regroup with the others; nobody is to return here for me, do you understand?"

"We understand, Grora," Mitchell commented as Othros helped the black haired cat demon lift Ater into her arms, "though are you still positive you don't want anyone else to help you?"

"He does have a point, Grora," the bat demon agreed. "You could use the aid."

"I appreciate the offer, thank you, but I must do this alone," Grora replied in determination, having come to terms with the choice she was making. "Ater and Arbus need you guys more."

Othros and Mitchell both exchanged quick glances before averting their attention back onto their angelic friend. "Very well, then let this be our final goodbye if you do not return to us alive," the former mentioned before adding, "Good luck, do your best to stop Hastur once and for all."

"I will, now get going," the angelic archer instructed them to hurry onwards to escape.

"At once," Mitchell agreed. "Fare thee well, Grora; it was an honor to be your friend."

"And the honor's all mine too," she returned the remark as the three of them left with Ater's limp, frail form in tow. Only Arbus looked back as they fled the chamber, watching Grora initiate further dialogue with Hastur before the cat demon turned her head back to focus on the way ahead of them. "There, now we have the rest of our miserable lives all to ourselves, Hastur. Our ends are already here, having arrived at this very moment." She held a scimitar up and pointed it at him. "I have made peace with myself, my past, and those girls. The only peace that's left…is your death."

"Wrong, Grora, there is no peace in your life, not even in death. I'm the only one at peace," he mentioned, still keeping up the narcissistic attitude against her. "This is but a mere setback."

"And yet you leave chaos in your wake," Grora retorted without the harsh attitude of hers. "Kind of hard to find peace among so much friction and destruction you dealt upon civilization, a reality I'm sure you'll acknowledge as your own twisted version of what peace really is, Hastur."

"Because that's exactly what peace is, Grora," Hastur spat coldly at her in a bitter tone. "It is true peace and true light. I am a light who'll be known as the God of Existence, and I shall keep torturing and killing all who are inferior to be simply because I can since everyone deserves it. The pain will continue on even in my new existence; everybody will hope I will end it and they'll hope they'll be able to rebel against me to produce a revolution while hoping to be like me. As the hope, the light that shall shine over them in their pitiful, nonexistential existences, I shall extinguish each of their hopes and dreams, dashing all to the ground because they're all inferior to me, perfection; perfection in the only truest, definition of the word itself. This is my destiny, and only I will rise."

"Then I'd better clip your wings and rewrite the definition by slamming the dictionary into your mug," his former subordinate, the angel who was once his second-in-command, uttered while getting into a defensive stance since she let him make the first move. She had taken it the first time they fought and acted with caution the second time, thereby winning while he held back then. "The only destiny in front of you is your fall this day, Hastur, and I shall be the one who shall throw you out of the heavens. Even if I must drag you down with me, so be it. As long as you die too, I shall be fine with whatever the outcome of our battle will be, including my own death in it as well."

"Indeed, you will die by my hand, Grora, but I shall not die," her old superior, her old lover, said remorselessly without emotion, the uncaring attitude showing how much he despised her and also how little he actually cared for her—that was to say he didn't care for her at all because of his intense hatred for her which also covered everybody else too. "After all, I am to be a God, mainly the God of Existence. It is only right and natural that I shall survive to ensure I acquire that power."

"Says you," Grora retorted, also not showing emotion since she was truly prepared to take whatever outcome resulted from the fight between them. He wasn't, and that would certainly be a contributing factor towards his fall. "But enough words. Just end your bloody monologue and fight me if you're so confident in winning. You talk big for somebody who wants to be that kind of God in the future that will never happen, though all you really do is postpone that future and your death by spouting that nonsensical drivel to the point where it becomes an excessive poison nobody will want to hear. If you want to escape and try to accomplish that and fail, I'm your obstacle, Hastur."

"With pleasure," Hastur commented, drawing his katana and charging down to her level as she lifted a scimitar to block a downward slash from him. Speeding forward while using his wings to grant him an additional boost of agility, he continued to deliver a flurry of slashes and thrusts at her in vain. Dodging all of his attacks, Grora kept parrying as she kept her eye on the one dangerous threat to her life in this conflict: the katana. There was something off about it, something about the way it had an ethereally black glow emanating along the edges of the blade. Grora didn't like it at all, not one bit because it felt like it had become a more powerful weapon than before. His strength was mixed with his speed and agility in each of the attacks he continued to deal, pounding at Grora like a heavy mace slamming into her weapon. Yet she barely managed to block the blows whenever he attempted to get them through to her. She was lucky and grateful to be wearing Etihw's armor, but quickly realized there was some kind of powerful energy in Hastur's katana, empowering him with the power of darkness that flowed through his weapon. Grora could sense it, feeling the aura of it envelop the blade and lash out at her. When the strikes he was dealing weren't enough, Hastur changed tactics and held the blade out at her by the hilt, flapping his wings to back up from her.

Grora frowned, not liking where this was going. His blade was obviously enchanted, power coursing through it because of what must've been an enchantment placed upon the blade. Whatever it was, she didn't know; however, there was one thing perfectly clear to her as apparent in the next attack Hastur dealt. His katana was gradually charging up, the dark energy around it morphing into a much longer blade that somehow also looked like a lance. Once again attempting to deliver some critical slashes, he thrust the sword forward and watched as the darkness flickered like a flame due to clashing against one of Grora's scimitars. The energy dealt a cut to her just beneath the spot her right eye was above, nearly crossing down to her mouth. It bled slightly, making her pull back.

"Tch!" She definitely didn't like how this battle was turning out right from the start. There was an invisible aura around her, a shield produced by the armor like Etihw had said. The Goddess had whispered the word to invoke it back in the Gray Garden after Robin gave Sylvan's Eye to her as a gift the spiritual angel wished to bestow to her. Grora stated that word before coming into the torture chamber, carefully whispering it at a low pitch so Arbus wouldn't be able to hear it. Arbus may have heard it anyway since she had good hearing, but probably forgot about it or didn't even pay attention to its utterance because her mind was focused on saving Ater. This shield was strong, powerful enough to block attacks from anything weaker than the defensive capabilities bestowed. Yet something penetrated it, the darkness flowing from the katana Hastur wielded fiercely. Taking a deep breath while blocking more attacks and dodging to try and avoid the energy, Grora thought about something similar that could've explained the enchantment: the shortsword they discovered after Hastur left it in their world. His blade had to have had the very same enchantment on it too.

"It's useless, Grora!" Hastur called out to her, observing as she studied the blade while they fought. He knew she was analyzing it, making inferences to explain the reason why his katana was shrouded in darkness. That was one of her best skills as his second-in-command, for he was aware of what came to her mind when she put some thought into the matter. "This enchantment was from the original blade it was stored within! The Lebabylonian Blade's enchantment served wonders on Siralos just as it had against that damned cat demon after it was applied to the torture instruments!"

"I figured you would stoop so low!" his opponent countered, dodging more strikes despite the fact a few more cuts accrued to her arms when his attacks also went through the armguards. "I know you all too well, Hastur! Enough to expect something so foul as this from you!" Flying away from several more, Grora found herself pinned near the left wall where she continued to fly while weaving through the strikes that dealt damage to the wall. Dust from the cinder blocks constructed into it blanketed the room; although the angelic archer attempted to use it as cover for a few sneak attacks with Sylvan's Eye, Hastur saw her all the same and heard the twang of the bowstring when she shot some arrows at him. Once again twirling it like a baton, he blocked the shots and waited. Observing her reach the back wall, he foolishly turned to rush out of the torture room; this was not an act of cowardice on his part since he planned on catching up to the others to kill them all, though Grora wouldn't let him go. "Where do you think you're going?!" she demanded, shooting arrows.

"I shall not stand idly by dealing with a pathetic gnat while those foul demons flee because of you! They shall all fall just like your comrades!" Hastur threatened them through her, using the katana to block the arrows as he sprinted to the door with his wings increasing his speed. However, one of the arrows embedded itself into his shoulder and went all the way through. It didn't prevent him from trying to escape, however, though another one in his leg did. Forced to slow down while removing them, he growled upon realizing Grora used this as her opportunity to close the gap and bash him in the face with Sylvan's Eye. Nearly knocked off balance by her blow, Hastur attempted to slash at her again, though she leapt to the side while sheathing the elven bow and drawing both scimitars at once. Calculating the speed at which she unsheathed them, he grabbed one and got hit by another blow to the face from the hilt of the other. "Damn you!" he swore at her as she prepared to kick him in the stomach, the attack successfully knocking him back. Although he still stood up, his opponent charged forward and brought a scimitar down on his katana when he blocked it. With the other scimitar, she thrust it forward, aiming for his chest even though he caught the blade only to receive a cut on his hand when it sliced through the gauntlet while he moved it away from him. Now that she was in his personal space, Hastur decided to headbutt her; unfortunately, Grora could easily anticipate this assault and flew away when he gained some strength to drive her back again.

"My comrades are still very much alive and well, unlike Ater since you nearly killed her!" she retorted, panting heavily from having exerted some energy during the fight. She could keep up as best she could, though somehow felt her strength was quickly leaving her faster than she thought to expect. A sudden realization hit her that this must've been an effect of that enchantment, that it was sapping the strength from her. That shortsword really must've been quite deadly if it was able to pierce a deity's armor, and now Hastur wielded a much longer, faster blade to deliver damage.

"Because she's a demon! All demons, Fallen Angels, and angels will fall to me like cattle!" the antagonistic angel retorted again, charging up the power in his katana again. "They are inferior to me, the one and only purest individual throughout this wretched existence! It is my responsibility to show them how weak and putrid they all are by torturing and slaughtering them without mercy!"

"Thereby proving you are purely evil incarnate, Hastur!" Grora spat back at him. She could feel the armor depleting her strength and stamina, wondering just how long it could stand to endure the confrontation. The archer sweated bullets, preparing herself for whichever strike he'd deal next based on how much power was increasing within the blade itself. "That's not holy, or omnipotent!"

"It will be once I become the God of Existence!" Hastur shouted back at her, getting angry.

"Then you are truly insane and a monster who cares not for peace! All you'll do is produce chaos wherever you go, no matter which world or existence you find yourself in!" Grora retorted, the insult being a very true statement that perfectly applied to her opponent. "Others shall rise up, they shall hunt you down and will successfully destroy you before you even have a chance to win! They too shall stand against you to put a stop to your malevolence and evil plans before you even carry them out!" She moved her scimitars to press them together to produce the thunderbolt.

"SILENCE!" Hastur screamed, the energy having reached quite a dangerous level. "You'll hold your tongue, Grora! How dare you speak out against me, the true God of Existence!" Saying this, he unleashed the full extent of the dark power, letting it clash with Grora's thunderbolt.

…

"So this is what's left of the Sun God, or at least his mental condition," Lenny observed as they both watched Siralos shiver fearfully and quietly babble incoherent nonsense. He had spotted the Sun God in a cell on the way here with the others and informed them of the find. Ember evoked ten of the dead souls she cleansed via spiritual filtering and went ahead to eliminate the sun angels who were all in the control room. Their foes put up quite a fight against the spirits, but they were overwhelmed since whenever they defeated one, another replaced the fallen that were exorcised. After they were slain, the flame demon necromancer found controls which unlocked the cell doors and main gates, flipping the switches so Lenny, Rorin, and Rosemary could arrive. Siralos' frail form was in the men's arms, and although his physical wounds fully recovered by this point, the psychological damage hadn't. "I had always thought he was quite prestigious for a God."

"I'm sure he was until this state of mind overtook him," Rorin concurred while also taking a bit of time to examine the Sun God. Averting his attention briefly, he watched as the last vestiges of battle were being cleaned up by the Gray Garden's army. Rosemary was on a wireless radio she had with her, contacting the Smoking God for news on the fight as the angelic man turned back to Siralos. He and Lenny would not say anything about the cause of Siralos' insanity, but knew those rumors would continue to circulate until proven true. They both shared a concerned glance at each other, wondering how the Gray Garden's neutral associates beneath the earth would be kept secret.

"I have word regarding the fate of Hastur's forces," Rosemary announced to them, clipping the radio to the belt of her armor while looking up at her squad-mates. "The enemy has fallen and will not be receiving any reinforcements. They are the last vestige of Hastur's military just as this is his final base of operations. Although a regiment of his troops attempted to withdraw through a portal, they were stopped before entering and promptly slain by Ivlis' army. We've won the war."

"Incorrect, it is still too early to say we have emerged victorious," Ember contradicted her. "Their leader's fate is still unknown," she added, pointing out that it probably wasn't over yet.

"She's right," Lenny agreed with her. "We may have secured victory over the Sun Heaven, but that man's a force to be reckoned with. We'll need to pin him down at some point to end this." Just as he finished saying that, the sound of hurried footsteps were gradually heard from afar within the hallways. Readying their weapons, Lenny and Rorin went to the double doors and pressed their bodies up against the wall on either side of them. Rosemary loaded up her two pistols while aiming at the doors, though she was somewhat surprised when Ember stepped over and lowered her arms with her own arm before speaking up to address the others regarding the identities of their guests.

"They're not enemies, they are our allies." Sure enough she was correct, for the doors were scarcely open less than two seconds upon somebody barging through them. Of the four who came in, Arbus was panting heavily as she rushed to a table and gently set Ater down on it for a bit with Othros and Mitchell following closely behind her. The white haired cat demon's physical state had shocked everyone except for those who saw it already and Ember—she'd seen much worse, though knew Ater was definitely amongst the list of horrible sights she'd seen; ergo, she wasn't surprised.

Arbus breathed heavily, her head whipping about for an escape route. "We must go now!"

"Whoa, whoa, hold up a second, Arbus," Rorin tried to calm her down. "What happened?"

"Is your sister alright?" Rosemary inquired, worried and scared for Ater's life. She had not ever met the cat demons until today, though she knew well enough by the sight of Ater's condition that she desperately needed medical attention before it was too late for her. "We'll get healers here at once if she can't be moved any further." Her suggestion was denied when Arbus seized her.

"No, we've got to go now! We need to take Ater away from here!"

"She's right," Othros supported the notion. "We'll have to be gentle when carrying her, but we really do need to leave the Sun Inquisition before it's too late and pronto. Let's move out now."

"Hold on, what about Grora? Where is she?" Lenny asked regarding their captain's fate.

"She stayed behind to deal with Hastur on her own," Mitchell quickly explained for them. "Grora's fully capable of handling him with Lady Etihw's armor, though Hastur's put some nasty enchantment on his weapon. I could feel the energy crackling from it when Othros and I remained hidden until we swooped in to rescue Ater. I don't know how she's faring over there in the torture chamber, but we hope Grora's okay. I'm sure she'll likely pull through no matter hard it'll be."

"Should we send someone to aid her?" Rosemary inquired, wondering if one or two of the other fighters including herself should've gone back to assist Grora. "She could use our help!"

Arbus took several more deep breaths, panting as sweat trickled down her face while she'd been listening to them discuss the problem. Clenching her teeth together and shutting her eyes, she was surprised to feel tears running down her cheeks in addition to the sweat. She was worried, that much was definitely true; though she wasn't just concerned for Ater. Her sister still took precedent, but now the black haired feline was starting to gravely worry about Grora's safety. The angel was sacrificing herself for their sake, and she made Arbus her second-in-command for this assignment. It was her responsibility to see to it that everyone else in the squad escaped safely with Ater…while Grora remained to handle Hastur. It just didn't feel right to her in light of how much she hated her. Yet she felt too scared and confused to say anything until Othros spoke up on her behalf for her.

"Unfortunately, we can't. Grora told us she must fight Hastur one on one to give us all the time we need to escape. She placed Arbus in charge of this mission for the rest of its duration, and we must heed the final instruction Grora gave since we must now listen to Arbus. It's her choice."

Her choice…Grora gave her command of the squad. That was the angel's decision. Grora's choice to fight Hastur on her own while they escaped was her decision. Sacrificing herself was her choice. In the past, Grora made many decisions that were wrong and stupid; she chose to kill those cat demons for Hastur and chose to spare Ater and Arbus even though Hastur tried to kill them. It was her decision to abuse the girls unaware of how connected they were by that incident. She made those choices, though now she had made better choices. This time Grora decided to redeem herself, and she began with the decision to combat Hastur alone at the cost of her own life, accepting death.

And just like her, Arbus also had a choice. She could forgive Grora, or not. She could allow her to fight Hastur alone, or send somebody here to help her fight him. The choice was hers, even with the cost of ending other lives just to help her. The others from the Gray Garden would clearly sacrifice their lives too, so she could send them—she probably couldn't count on Rosemary along with Ember; they probably had other duties to get to, though Rosemary might sacrifice herself too. Regardless of what she chose, Arbus knew she needed to do something: flee with everyone, letting Grora's sacrifice not be in vain; or send someone to ensure Grora's chances of coming back alright and alive were higher than they currently might've been. Choosing the former would save them at the cost of Grora's life if she died whether she had managed to kill Hastur or not; choosing to send aid would've probably ended other lives too. She was involved in one path that could've ended by her orders, just as her orders could've also ended paths of other lives. They were linked together.

She didn't have time to really think about it for too long. A massive explosion erupted from the other side of the bastille, engulfing everything in its path. Luckily, Ember had the foresight for setting up a protective barrier around them, sealing the destruction that would've killed them while destroying the control room. The spirits under her command had warned her in time, and she could foresee the ruined building in her mind; it would still be traversable when getting out, but in ruins nonetheless. However, there was an additional problem, one that affected Arbus' decision to send Grora the aid she might've needed. "The miasmatic stench of death and darkness is overpowering. All the souls that could not be saved by my filtration are in disarray, angered over the pain they've experienced in both life and death. Their hateful disposition is concocting a deadly atmosphere of disease, manifesting into a cloud of pure dark energy where they can manifest and harm the living. Even the spirits under my command are faltering somewhat since they too are affected because of their association with this place and the painful deaths it caused throughout its dark existence."

Arbus swallowed heavily while shivering, going pale with fright. "S-so, Miss Grora is…is s-she dead? T-there's nothing we can do t-to s-save her? We c-can't send anybody to help her?"

"She still lives with the White Goddess' armor protecting her, though she did sustain some serious wounds from the explosion caused by an attack she performed along with the dark energy the one called Hastur made use of," Ember explained for the group. "The enchantment on his blade must be that of the Lebabylonian Blade, a weapon designed to kill deities. He must've figured out how to apply it to his weapon, though the dead souls have all been drawn to it, amalgamating as a dangerous plague of dark hatred that also imbued the weapon with much power. What occurred at this point was a release of the combined energies powered by Grora's attack, causing a rift through which this anomaly could manifest as a creation of the two magical products. The two of them are very much alive in spite of being at the focal point, though Hastur is currently being quite corrupted by the foul taint and will soon become a malevolent undead. If someone is to go aid Grora, it shall be me because I am the only one capable of passing through this darkness unharmed by the dead within it. I've dealt with worse situations as a necromancer, so I alone can handle it. None of the rest of you have such experience, so allow me to progress onwards while you all withdraw."

Although she didn't want to come across as a superior sending her officers to their deaths, Arbus felt she needed to make her choice at this very moment for Grora's sake. She wanted to help Grora, not leave her to die. That was why she made the choice to save her as well. "Very well, you may go, Miss Ember," she consented to the flame demon's offer. "Please, bring her back alive."

"As you wish," the necromancer commented and proceeded into the darkness as they left.

…

 _"Grora…"_

 _"H-Hastur…"_

 _They were in the church at Dying Souls Mine where the conflict was currently taking place between the Gray Garden's authorities and True Light. Several of her once fellow members chose to fight, believing in Hastur to the very end in spite of the fact she showed them the truth. Many of them who supported him didn't believe what she said was the truth, though others believed it since they willingly made themselves sacrifices so Hastur could fulfill his goal of becoming a God in the unlikely event he successfully accomplished that. But not just any God—the God of Existence. This and his betrayal of the organization he formed, the order he constructed with their help, served to show how insanely narcissistic he was by trying to achieve a greater power at the expense of others who aided him. He planned to throw them away from the beginning once their purpose as his tools and pawns was over, the usage as scapegoats having successfully been fulfilled. This role was his betrayal of them, for he had used them as the pawns they were to him just as they were his subjects in a cruel experiment he purposely revealed to Grora. Hastur believed it was time to end the ruse._

 _Grora had confessed her sins to Etihw, Kcalb, and Wodahs, revealing to the truth and even agreed to lead them into Dying Souls Mine. They and a number of other guards in the retinue were prepared for combat if the members of True Light fought back. Not all of them did, for some sided with Grora when she strode in alone to reveal the same truth Hastur showed her, the one she then turned over to the authorities in turn. She would be damned if she didn't do anything to stop Hastur from achieving his twisted goals, regardless of whether or not she was following his plans because he did say the angelic archer would've been doing that anyway even if she confessed. He had made a plan to cast them all aside, letting her take the fall first so everyone else in True Light would fall too. That included him, though he claimed there was no way he'd ever fall from his own grace._

 _Her allies in True Light tried to protest against his ideas, but he and his allies cut them all down, leaving only Grora as the sole survivor. She fought him and lost, his calculations of Grora's speedy attacks winning the conflict over her while his allies initiated the battle against authorities. She could hear them fighting now, the conflict intensifying because Hastur chose only experienced veterans to fight alongside him; the Gray Garden also had experienced veterans, but even they've been struggling against Hastur's miniature unit. Luckily Kcalb and Wodahs were there to help the others fight them off. From where her body laid on the floor, covered in serious wounds from those attacks Hastur dealt to her, Grora could also look out the windows to watch spellcraft being used as it was unleashed throughout the area. Projectile spells darted this way and that, area of effects exploding in some spots that nearly threatened to destroy this whole place if they were too severe._

 _Diverting her attention back to him, she struggled to lift her head and face him. She could not rise up even if she tried, for some of the injuries were dealt to her legs. Yet even in her crippled condition, she managed to at least speak up in a hoarse tone voice, blood dripping from her mouth. "W-why…" she asked him weakly, angrily. "H-how could you betray our world, our values?"_

 _"You know damn well why, Grora," he commented and left her to wonder why she fought._

…

 _She was sitting in her room, pale and covered in sweat from the nightmares she had. Grora had spent the whole night wondering what she was supposed to do. Racking her brain for options, the angelic lady found only two available: confess, or let Hastur continue to commit crimes against the Gray Garden. Seated on her bed, she trembled uncontrollably because the thought of both was far too terrifying to her to handle. She had also committed similar crimes for him, having joined a group of angels like her who fought for traditional values in their world. They truly believed their cause was just and right, thinking that Kcalb sought to usurp Etihw from power with help from his Fallen Angel brother, Wodahs, the Head Angel. They believed the demons and Fallen Angels were their enemies and had to be slain, assassinated for having allowed peace to exist between the two sides: angels and demons. Pondering on what felt right, Grora just felt so confused and insecure._

 _There was a duty she had to fulfill for traditional values and beliefs. Grora fought to ensure those were preserved according to the natural law of conflict between angels and demons. She put in the effort required to try and revive them, committing countless crimes in society for traditions. Civilization in this world would've labeled her as a sinful criminal, an offender who had to receive punishment and judgment for her actions. True Light would've labeled her as a heroine for saving the traditional values their world's previous state—the Colored Rainbow World, their old world's existence—advocated for and fought under. Grora sided with Hastur and True Light, believing the duty she needed to fulfill was for the Colored Rainbow World, for preserving conflict between the angels and demons. Now, though…now she believed her duty had become blurred by her beliefs._

 _For too long she believed in the natural law, of angels versing demons in combat. For too long she fought for Hastur and True Light, trying to ensure that natural law was followed. For too long she had been deceived by him until the truth came to light. In these moments her duty became clear: she wasn't supposed to fight for preserving traditional beliefs by killing others; she needed to preserve them by accepting the conflict as something that happened in this world's past, helping to shape the new world by serving as its anchor. An anchor that would've served as a reminder of the past, the everlasting war that consumed both angels and demons so they would never fight one another ever again. This moment of clarity came to her right away, most likely aided by her hatred of Hastur since she wanted revenge against him for being used and discarded like a broken tool._

 _That was why she suddenly stormed out of her bedroom, striding towards the elevator in a hurry and pressing the call button to open the doors. She rode it all the way to the top, determined to put an end to this affair once and for all. Upon reaching the top floor, she hurried to the office, having already made her mind up about what she wanted to do. She wanted revenge against Hastur and to seek redemption by atoning for the sinful crimes she committed in True Light under him. It was the only way she could think of to stop him, so she threw open the doors in a hurry to rush in._

 _"Grora?" Etihw was surprised by her sudden entrance and how the angelic lady presented herself at this moment. "What are you doing here? Is there something you wish to ask us, Grora?"_

 _"Charge me!" Grora demanded of her, slamming her hands on the Goddess's desk so hard she knocked some of the files on it over. There was intense rage in her eyes as she stared at Etihw. "You must charge me, Lady Etihw! I implore you, you and Sir Devil need to punish me right now!"_

 _"For what purpose?" Kcalb inquired, already thinking of possible things Grora may have done to incur the need for punishment. He started pondering this when she first spoke up about it, demanding to be charged for something wrong she must've done. Even his brother thought of it as well, and the two exchanged glances, on the same page because they figured it had to do with each of the killings. That was the only issue they could think of since nothing else came to their minds._

 _"Because I'm responsible!" Grora retorted, throwing a glance at them. "I'm one of those criminals you're searching for!" Her second exclamation shocked Etihw, but neither Wodahs nor Kcalb since it seemed their hypothesis formed at this moment was correct. "I've aided other angels in the murders of innocent people in this region! I've helped cover it all up! Punish me right now!"_

…

Everywhere there was nothing but darkness colored purple swirling around her. Lying in a pool of some blood from herself, she remained unconscious for a bit. Due to the effect of their two attacks clashing together at once, a sudden explosion emerged from the rift they produced. It took over much of their surroundings in the torture chamber, obliterating it while sending her flying out of the place through a wall that shattered and broke down into pieces. Her body had bounced along the ground by some solar generators that supplied energy and heat to the Sun Inquisition. However, there were also gas tanks as well containing noxious fumes of an unknown origin—perhaps these gases were utilized as a torture implement. In any case, she was knocked back from the explosion.

Her eyelid remained shut, dust and small pieces of debris covering her body. If she had not been wearing Etihw's armor, Grora would've been killed right then and there immediately. Luckily she survived, but only barely because the eruption dealt serious damage to her body and the armor. Siri's Iridescence was cracked in several spots on the upper torso, the left arm guard blown entirely away with blood trailing from gashes on her arm onto the ground. The right gauntlet was shattered, though some of it remained. The long skirt was still intact, if rather filthy from the dusty debris. It was a miracle Grora survived, but now she was literally on the verge of death because the armor's power had been completely drained away by that explosion. With the enchantments on it nullified, Grora could not hope to withstand any more attacks from Hastur. If she could avoid him, that could have been great; unfortunately, her legs had also suffered critical damage with her right leg getting broken while her left ankle was sprained. Thankfully her limbs were still attached, albeit in rather poor shape like the rest of her body. Fraught with several life-threatening wounds, Grora was weak.

Her eyelid finally opened after what seemed like a long time of unconsciousness, and Grora could only stare while struggling to gaze at the ruined structure before her. There were holes in all of the walls as far as she could see, some parts of it beginning to collapse from the pressure of that explosion which caused some to become too unstable. A pile of rubble had completely engulfed the torture chamber, and she thought Hastur was buried underneath it, finally being planted in that grave she wanted to bury him in. Her scimitars had miraculously been undamaged even if they had gotten covered in the dust and darkness while embedded in the ground nearby but the enchantment on them must have been snuffed out too. Sylvan's Eye was strapped to her back and she still had arrows in the quiver, so she wasn't completely unarmed if she could still fight a prolonged battle.

"D-did…d-did I-I…w-win…?" Grora whispered, beginning to wheeze and hack painfully.

Nobody answered her, everything was silent. This wasteland of the ruins was dark, yet also very quiet. She could still see somewhat through the dark purplish gas-like substance swirling over her, and also through her blurred vision, but not much could really be made out. She was alone.

"I-I g-guess…" Grora murmured, coughing badly again while shutting her eye for it. "I did win…" The muscles around her mouth struggled to smile as she forced herself to. "H-hah…Hastur is…d-dead…f-finally…" Tears of joy formed in her eye. "I-I f-finally…killed that asshole…" She wheezed again, having difficulty breathing amidst the poisonous fumes that had begun to leak out of the gas tanks and merge with the darkness. "E-eat s-shit as you r-rot in hell…Hastur…" Again, she continued to hack, struggling to breathe. Memories of the killings she committed under Hastur in True Light flashed through her mind, including the parents of Ater and Arbus. The two girls had finally been avenged, their parents' murders avenged by her. Ater was safe and sound with Arbus, and they and the others were already evacuating the premises just as Grora wanted them to. "Looks like…I-I'll not be able to m-make it back t-to see them…I-I guess this is it…" she sighed, thinking about all of her friends and other associates, including Ater and Arbus. "I-I suppose t-this is a final farewell…t-to them…at least t-they're s-safe…" She forced herself to chuckle amid the wheezing, still smiling as she shut her eye while the tears still poured. "G-goodbye, everyone…I-I'll miss…"

And just like that, her head collapsed with the message unfinished. Believing she achieved getting an honorable death after putting an end to Hastur once and for all for good, Grora felt quite peaceful knowing that it ended. She could die peacefully, knowing everyone was safe from Hastur.

 _"Gro…ra…"_

Her eye opened slightly, but her vision was still blurry. Before her was a familiar face. "Is t-that…you…R-Robin…?" she asked, recognizing the spiritual angel's voice with a smile. "Don't w-worry…about me, Robin…I-I'll be joining you and the others at once…I-I'll be right…there."

 _"Gro…ra…"_

"I-I'm…coming…R-Robin…"

 _"Gro…ra…wa…ke…sen…ses…"_

"R-Rob…in…"

Suddenly she felt somebody lightly slap her face as her eye finally widened in disbelief. It was an unexpected occurrence, one that bewildered Grora greatly, for she regained consciousness at this very moment and realized she wasn't dead yet. She had not gone to the afterlife yet, though she could still see Robin's ethereal form kneeling above her as the spiritual angel stared at her with a grave facial expression. _"Oh, thank god, you're still alive, Grora! I was so worried about you!"_

"Robin…?" Grora murmured, somehow regaining some strength in her body, enabling her to speak a little clearer than she was already with her mumbling. "What happened? Is this a dream? Am I dead yet?" The angelic archer was still so confused, but Robin began to explain it for her.

 _"No, you're not! You're still alive, Grora! I'm using some of my energy to keep you alive!"_ she exclaimed in a panicked state, worried about her friend. _"He's not dead! Hastur's still alive!"_

Her eye widened in shock upon hearing the bad news, Robin's revelation kicking her back into action. Of course, Grora was still far too wounded to adequately deal with him. She was very grateful for her spiritual friend's aid, though knew this would still be very tough without more aid. Yet what surprised her was the fact Hastur still lived, and it was a very unpleasant surprise for that matter. She struggled to breathe, finding it somewhat easier thanks to Robin. "A-ah, shit…I should have known it wouldn't have been so easy. That blast was one thing, but to hear he survived too…"

 _"That's not all! I can sense something's changing within him, turning him into a feral beast even as we speak! Something's drawing all of this energy in, consuming it whole just as the spirits around us drew themselves to the enchantment on his weapon!"_ Robin delivered more news of an alarming sort, information that began to portray whatever changes were coming over him as darker portents of a malevolent being that would have emerged from within the grave. What sort of being that was would have been demonic in nature and very powerful to boot since the souls of the dead and their painful anguish were being absorbed by something in Hastur. Perhaps the enchantment's power was alluring to them, sucking in the souls and this darkness they produced like a black hole if the analogy was applied to the situation. That was what Robin alluded to with her information.

"What, it's going to become a Cyfuno Gwirodydd like the thing you were trapped in?" the living angel asked. Her voice was still hoarse, though she used what little strength left in her to try and stand up while her body pushed plenty of the debris away as she slowly staggered to her feet.

 _"I don't know, but whatever it is sure is strong! That much I can tell apart from how these souls and their darkness are affecting it! It's definitely drawing them in, and what's left are nothing but malevolent shadows!"_ Her comment about the shadows was true, for all around the pair some shadows were emerging from the ground and out of thin air. They were the ghosts of fallen demons who died under the torture in this place, shadow people with dark intentions as they sought to take their pain out on any available outlet. Being an angel, Grora was definitely their target as the fiends slowly writhed towards her at a slow pace on their feet, though the angel drew Sylvan's Eye to try and embed arrows into them. It was tough shooting them with an injured arm, though she somehow made due and was able to eliminate a lot of them when the debris blanketing Hastur exploded.

"Shit, what now?!" Grora demanded rhetorically, standing by while blocking a cloud made of dust and smoke that blew over her. When it cleared, she and Robin could make out a figure who stood atop the rubble with a broken katana in hand. They could not see him all too well due to the massive fog of darkness blanketing them as if they were in pea soup, but they knew he was Hastur. The katana was shattered, the upper half of the blade gone as a foul stench of death permeated the space and what it had once been attached to. Hastur approached, taking slow steps down the debris towards Grora as he kept absorbing the dead souls. Eventually Grora and Robin were able to make him out much better as he got closer to them. The armor and clothes on his torso were obliterated, ripped away revealing an empty torso that had also been ripped open with a beating heart revealing he was indeed alive as Robin said. However, he had somehow also become undead since his skin's color changed into a purplish blue with him salivating as he pointed the broken blade at Grora.

 _"Gro…ra…"_ Even his voice had become distorted, sounding like crippled static. _"Must…I must…kill Gro…ra…be…come…God of…Exist…ence…"_ He shambled and sprinted towards her.

"Dammit, he's become a Revenant Wight!" his old subordinate swore and nocked an arrow to aim it at his heart. Watching his movements, Grora kept her aim as steady as she could with her shaky arms and unsteady legs, trying to get a bead on him as his movements changed directions in his attempt to kill her. He had warped away to another spot and continued running after a first shot missed, though Grora held onto the second to last of the arrows she had left in her quiver. Waiting for him to stop teleporting, she let him get close to her before finally shooting the arrow at Hastur.

 _"Grora, watch out!"_ Robin screamed, terrified that Grora was going to die at this point. It was a welcome concern, and one that seemed to be true when the living angel's arrow pierced his heart. In an instant another dark explosion erupted when it did, causing the ground beneath the two of them to break away and collapse. It was an opening to the mortal realm of the Land of the Sun, what had become an apocalyptic wasteland to the humans there—any surviving humans—and the angelic archer fell through it with Hastur. He plummeted faster than her due to the weight of many demonic souls still attached to him. The last arrow in Grora's quiver also began to fall out as well.

"Robin!" Grora called out to her friend, needing her help one more time.

 _"Grora!"_ the spiritual angel shouted back, holding her arm out to try and grab her friend's arm so the angelic archer wouldn't fall from the Sun Heaven. _"Grora, take my hand, I'll save—"_

"No, throw me my scimitars, quick! He's still alive, I need to end this now!"

 _"Grora…!"_ Although she hadn't wanted to, Robin left and ran to the weapons. While she'd been doing so, Grora arched her upper body downward and began spiraling towards those remains she once called Hastur, her former boss and lover from True Light. She may have broken his heart, just as he had broken hers, though he was breathing somehow as he fell towards a sea. Although his wings were attached to his body, he couldn't fly anymore since the explosion weakened them. Grora could barely see him amidst the debris and smoke of clouds falling from the sky, though she could make him out a good distance away from her. Saving what little energy was left in her wings, she at least propelled herself down with one single beat of them to try and advance towards Hastur.

 _"Gro…ra…"_ he murmured weakly, falling from the Sun Heaven as he saw her fall too just as the smoky debris continued to block the path between them. Unable to afford going around this obstacle, Grora did something she hadn't expected to do, something that most likely wouldn't help her get through the rubble, but felt symbolically necessary to her all the same. Quickly throwing a hand to her eyepatch, Grora tore it off and used her other hand to seize the last arrow near her. Her teeth were clenched tightly together, her only eye staring what was left of Hastur down in the fall.

"HASTUR!" she screamed at his pathetic body, breaking through the debris with her arms held in front of her face to protect her from it. "THIS DAY YOU DIE!" Screaming these words as she finally managed to catch up to his body, Grora seized his cadaverous life form with one hand. With the other, she thrust the arrow into his head just as she had promised Robin prior to departing for the Sun Heaven, thereby sticking the arrow in his head for both her and the spiritual angel. "IT WAS NOT NICE KNOWING YOU! NOW ROT IN THE NONEXISTENTIAL HELL YOU'VE ALWAYS SPOKEN OF!" Grora did not hear Robin call her name as the scimitars were dropped, but she beat her wings as she let go of Hastur to fly upwards and catch them. Hoping the weapons had not been disenchantment by the explosion produced from their earlier attacks crossing together into that eruption, Grora pressed them together while aiming them at Hastur's body. Her hope was fulfilled, for they produced the thunderbolt she needed to ultimately disintegrate his body from the worlds—no, not just the worlds, but also this very existence so he would never come back again. It was a miracle, a spectacular display of thunder wiping the slate clean of Hastur's existence, as even his ashes were completely obliterated into nothingness. It was over; Hastur was finally dead.

 _"Grora!"_ Robin cried out as her spirit descended quickly to help her friend back up so she could rest easy knowing the man who caused so much pain, misery, destruction, and darkness, was finally dead, ceasing to exist. Using her ethereal wings to fly, the angelic spirit pulled Grora up to safety and gently laid her on the ground while looking over her. _"Grora, are you alright! Tell me, you're not hurt are you?! Please, say something! You can't die on me and everyone else, Grora!"_

"It's over…Robin…" Grora whispered softly, though loud enough for Robin to hear her as the angelic archer gradually started to chuckle. "It's over…he's dead…Hastur is finally dead…"

Robin smiled, watching as her friend began to laugh happily, having finally ended the long reign of terror Hastur sought to impose before he even had a chance to begin it from the start. She watched as more tears of joy emerged from her eye, and it even looked like her empty socket where the other eye had once been was also starting to tear up too. _"Yes, Grora,"_ she said soothingly for the other lady, _"you've finally done it. You've successfully atoned for your past mistakes by killing Hastur. It really is over, and for once I can see a bright light ahead of you in your future. You did terrible things in your past, but have now redeemed yourself for everything by obliterating him."_

"More than you know!" Grora shut her eye and grinned widely from ear to ear. "He doesn't exist anymore! I surely must've completely decimated whatever was left of his damn existence!"

"Indeed, you have..." a solemn voice spoke up to address her as Robin and Grora turned to find Ember, the flame demon necromancer, approaching them. "I could sense the souls of demons and that man's own being erased, their darkened, incorporeal forms released from the pain they've suffered in both life and death. The afterlife tortured them here just as they were tortured in life as well, so you have done well to ease their pain and soothe it by clearing them from this existence."

"Ember?" Grora asked, wondering why she had come back when she'd given the order that none of the other members of her squad were to return for her. "I thought you and the others were supposed to flee. Don't tell me that bloody cat demon sent you here to give me a hand?" She made the choice to voice that notion, but decided she'd accept the aid all the same nonetheless anyway.

"We spoke about someone lending you aid, though it appears you didn't really need it. All I've done was volunteer to return and throw you the blades; though your second-in-command was the one who authorized my leave," Ember explained briefly for her. "I was the only one who could pass through the anomaly you and Hastur have made unhindered by the undead, so it was natural."

The angelic archer chuckled, believing Arbus had done something right for once. "Just like I had expected…always causing trouble for others when it isn't needed…" This comment was not full of malice or hatred, but rather a tone expressing her gratitude towards the cat demon. "Ah, the hell with it. I'm glad she actually chose to disobey my order regardless of what I told her. Thanks."

"You needn't mention it, I was merely contributing my efforts to the assignment at hand," Ember replied, coming closer as she helped Grora to her feet while looking at Robin's spirit. "She is attached to you, no? You are certainly lucky to have a guardian angel watching over you, Grora."

Robin chuckled, walking by her friend's other side as the necromancer helped Grora walk. _"I would say it's more than simple luck,"_ she remarked. _"We're very good friends in life and also death. Isn't that right, Grora?"_ She turned to the living angel, wanting to hear her input on that.

"When you're not cheating at cards and scaring the living, that is," Grora murmured while laughing with her, shutting her eye as Robin put an arm around her shoulder while they headed for the main gate out of the Sun Inquisition. They headed towards everyone else who was waiting for them now that Hastur and his forces were finally defeated. Clouds parted, revealing the sun which shone down on them as if it were congratulating them on a victory well earned by their efforts.

Unbeknownst to them at this moment, Ember cast a look back at the hole Grora fell through with Hastur. She hadn't said anything about it, but there was another entity that died too in addition to Hastur and all the demonic spirits he absorbed. While she didn't know what it was exactly, the flame demon felt it was primordially eldritch besides being interlinked with Hastur for whatever reason. Yet that other entity produced a dying ripple to signal a departure from existence, the death it was somehow finally punished with. However, the necromancer chose to let this matter drop so Grora could feel the joy of knowing she killed Hastur while they headed back to the battlefield.

Maybe what was in the shrouded veil merely watched Hastur's fall from the Sun Heaven.

…

 **What an epic final battle against Hastur! This fanfic's been in the works for months, with it now nearing completion right around Christmas and New Year's Eve. I'm so glad it's finally done even though the epilogue and bonus chapter are still left to go. I'm very grateful to everyone who read this and stuck with the story to the very end; I really appreciate it since it means so much to me. Regarding my next project, I'm actually going to be leading up to it in a one-shot I'll be writing shortly after this in which I'll tease the next multi-chapter fanfic right around the end of this aforementioned one-shot. Yet there are two other one-shots I do want to write first before it, both of which relate to** _Atonement_ **in some way which is why I'm going to write them before the one-shot that shall tease my next project. Look forward to it.**

 **Regarding the mythological undead in this chapter, many of us are familiar with what are known as shadow people from real ghost hunts done by teams such as Ghost Adventures. Revenants are basically corpses and ghosts that are visible and animate, and there may be a purpose as to why they conduct specific hauntings. Wights could be similar to Wraiths since their dead souls are still in their bodies and drain life from the living. However, it is actually derived from an Old English word—wiht—that transitioned into becoming a Middle English word which essentially refers to a sentient being that lives. The same is true for the Old High German word spelled the same way, though the original usage attributed it to being human. You can learn more about these undead creatures on Wikipedia if you're interested in them.**

 **Hastur's fall was based on the falls of Lucifer from heaven and Icarus from the sky.**


	31. Epilogue: An Apology with Forgiveness

"So, everything's come to an end in our favor, hasn't it?" he asked, seated at the table with the other two military leaders who had come to the meeting. Crossing his arms across his chest in his standard military uniform, Ivlis smirked since he was glad to have finally accomplished getting his revenge against Siralos and the Sun Heaven for his fall from the divine space. Sipping his soda with an arm resting on the manila folder he kept on the table, containing a long list of demands he wanted fulfilled from the loser's end, the Flame Devil then breathed in the fresh air of victory and savored it. "And by 'our favor', I'm of course referring to the Flame Underworld; though the both of you will be receiving your cut of the spoils in the respective forms you required from this place."

"That's the gist of it, Ivlis," Kcalb concurred with him, a rare agreement between the Devils who were still enemies despite their temporary alliance against the Sun Heaven. A couple of days had already passed since they were victorious. With their business wrapped up, the Gray Garden's military and that of the Corporate Heaven as well were warped back to their respective homes. The two armies were no longer needed here, and the soldiers all deserved rest and relaxation following the completion of this little war. Only Ivlis' army remained to continue laying waste to an already crippled Sun Heaven, destroying everything that hadn't been fully decimated yet to make way for whatever the factions over in the Flame Underworld wanted. Kcalb and Fumus also left with their armies, but they returned later to help finalize the details of this last arrangement. "Still, my world is not going to take anything from here and Fumus has already received that small reimbursement from your take. The rest of the spoils of war all belong to you, and the two of us personally vouched for you to keep them when we submitted our respective reports to Justim not too long ago." Lenny had gone with the messengers so he could help deliver those documents and also testify as well.

"Thanks," the Flame Devil commented while leaning back in his seat as the trio waited for Igls Unth to be led to this meeting from her confinement. As a prisoner of Ivlis alongside her father who had been turned over to him as well, the angelic lady could receive a chance to appeal for her release after the pending discussion between her, the two Devils, and the Smoking God. She would do the same for Siralos as well, though she was going to act on his behalf due to his mental state.

"No problem," Fumus remarked to him, taking a sip of his coffee while adjusting his tie to give off a good impression. "You know, some of my angels were actually talking about a possible name for this small conflict," he added to make small talk regarding said conflict. "It's of no major concern to us, though a number of them have offered suggestions such as the Prideful War along with the War of Two Suns, the latter pertaining to the Sun Heaven's civil war. Any thoughts?"

"I believe the War of Three Suns could be fairly accurate since there were three sides which fought against each other," Kcalb clarified, taking a liking to the second title while tuning it some more to be precise. "After all, a lot of the civilians and soldiers did fight for the same thing another side fought for, except without Siralos. It's only fair we allude to them as well. If you ask me, I do think another good title for it would be the War of Misguided Beliefs because the beliefs were not really all that pure. The Sun Heaven sought to wage war against the Corporate Heaven, a chief ally on the Heavenly Council to try and receive more power while ensuring the demons in your world's underworld would be defeated. Igls Unth maintained order according to the religious customs, but for her father's sake and foolishly led all of her troops into a war they had difficulty winning since she put pride first. Hastur lied to his own troops, tricking them into believing he was a hero who'd end the war and become a new God before he could move onto proceeding with his true objective, that of becoming the God of Existence. Only the side that fought for their values and beliefs while seeking to abandon Siralos were true to their culture, though they may still have advocated for war against the Corporate Heaven. The Gray Garden was also in the path of also being victimized, but we were merely going to be a front against Fumus' heaven and maybe other heavens and hells."

"The War of Three Suns and the War of Misguided Beliefs…" Fumus shut his eyes to put some thought into those names. "You know, those don't sound too bad when you think about it as they do describe the situation fairly well. I'll let Justim know about them and see what he thinks." Having said this, his attention was garnered by the arrival of Igls Unth to the table. Escorted by an entourage of three flame demons from Ivlis' military, they forced her into the chair opposite Kcalb and honed their weapons on her in case she tried to escape from captivity. "I believe that isn't truly necessary, gentlemen," the Smoking God addressed them politely. "She's too proud to escape us."

"Eh, you can never be too careful," Ivlis shrugged, shaking his head to show how he didn't approve of what may have been naivety on Fumus' part. "That pride can make her think about it."

"Fair play," Kcalb commented to concede the point and end the conversation on that matter so they could get down to business as he addressed Igls Unth next. "Igls Unth, the Marshall of the Sun Heaven and also its Commander-in-Chief for Siralos. You don't look too well." His comment on her appearance was true, for her uniform and hair were disheveled and her color was gone from the stress she'd been under due to losing the War of Three Suns and being captured by Ivlis. She'd been up all night every night, worrying about her father while caring for him once he'd been taken to her. That was the only comfort Ivlis bothered to provide her with, somewhat satisfying her even though she was greatly displeased at how she and Siralos were being treated by the flame demons. Bags were under her closed eyes, and the lady looked rather irritable with them. "I don't mean for this to come across as blunt and maybe rude, but you've contributed to the conflicts and lost them."

"We would have won had it not been for Hastur and you curs…" Igls Unth growled at them as a further indication of her anger against them. "It's because of you the Sun Heaven lost. We had great plans, plans on becoming the greatest and most glorious heaven among the other heavens. It all would've worked in our favor until you all ruined it for us by putting a stop to those plans."

"And why do you think we did?" Fumus asked her, already getting tired with her arrogance. "Bear in mind the invasions were your father's ideas and you went along with it as did the entirety of your heaven. We'll give you the fact that you only had his best interests in mind when Hastur's idea to spark a rebellious revolution against you worked out for him, but you still have no right to betray your allies in the Heavenly Council. Regarding your heaven's religious beliefs, we care not how you handled governing the Sun Heaven while enforcing the customs as per your cultural mors, norms, and value; that's an issue for the Sun Heaven to determine whether it was fair play or not."

Igls Unth growled again, scowling at them in rage. Yet she said nothing since they at least would not involve themselves in the affairs of the Sun Heaven so long as said affairs were internal to it. However, she was perfectly aware the external international affairs were still a problem she'd have to deal with on her father's behalf. All she did was merely sit there and pout like some spoiled child, though she would be enraged with Ivlis for the following statement he was putting forward.

"Indeed, though much of the internal affairs will involve me seeing as how I was originally a resident of this pitiful heaven and am still a resident of the Land of the Sun as its Devil. Justim's going to be quite interested in the charges against you as well as the trial you'll be put through. I'd also even go so far to say that he'll become quite interested in my own case as well," he remarked, sliding the folder over to her so she could look at the files within, yet not without an outburst.

"You have some nerve demanding the God of All Gods try your case against us! You aren't a resident of the Sun Heaven anymore; you're a Devil! Siralos was justified in casting you out for doubting his ideals and the beliefs that drive our world! You were always nothing but a demon!"

"A demon that served his heaven loyally and did the work assigned to him while acquiring knowledge that made me think," the Flame Devil conceded the argument on that, but added some of his own logic to the counterpoint as well. "Yet I was created as a demon by Siralos; you are all too well aware of that already. My eyes were not closed like yours, you blind dog of obedience to a God whose own eyes were fully open as well. That was intentional on his part, and I fell into his trap because he wanted me to fall so he'd look good. Everything was all to better himself, not make others follow him faithfully—oh, believe me, we've got some documents saying otherwise, along with his personal journal which we also happened to recover. I'm sure Justim would likely be very willing to accommodate my case considering your invasion plots failed in addition to the discovery of the aforementioned documents and journal, the latter of which was written in his handwriting." He pointed at the folder in front of her. "My demands are all in there, and I expect you to fulfill all of them. If you won't bother to read it, one of my subordinates will. And if you won't bother even listening at all…" Ivlis chuckled sinisterly, directing the venom at her. _"Justim will speak of them."_

Undaunted by his threat, Igls Unth merely huffed angrily and stuck her head up like a total snob—she actually was one like her father—turning it away from them. Nonetheless, she realized there was no use trying to even debate with them. To her it was liking talking to stupid brick walls trying to better themselves by adding more cement and bricks to rise higher than her. Moments of the following silence between them passed before she heard something being placed on the table.

"I believe you're familiar with this weapon," Kcalb remarked, implying it was one she did know of. The only one that came to mind was the Lebabylonian Blade because Hastur stole it from the Sun Heaven and secretly—until his treachery was discovered—gave it to the Gray Garden. An evil weapon, the very blade capable of killing deities…in that world's possession. And now Kcalb had brought it with him to the meeting with Ivlis taking an interest in it. The Flame Devil took one glance at it and immediately knew what it was, putting a bent finger to his chin as he sensed all of the power within it. "I believe it's referred to as the Lebabylonian Blade, correct? The one Hastur's turned over to the Gray Garden, and also having applied the same enchantment to the instruments of torture in the Sun Inquisition and his own blade as well. I thought you'd like to see it again."

"Give that blade back, it belongs to us, you curs" Igls Unth demanded of him coldly.

"I think not," Kcalb denied the demand, using a powerful disintegration spell to completely decimate the blade by turning it into ashes. "We can't risk it being used against other deities."

Ivlis simply smirked and shrugged. "Eh, what can you do? The factions won't be pleased."

"I'm sure they won't," the Gray Garden's Devil responded. "At least the other spoils should be satisfactory to them so they won't cause too much trouble for you anytime real soon, Ivlis."

"True, at least I hope they will; but I'm personally fine with this all the same," Ivlis said as he referred to the destruction of this blade. "I've no need for it myself even if the factions want it."

Only Igls Unth wasn't fine with it at all, though none of them cared so long as it was gone. Still, she was at least comforted by the fact it probably wouldn't be used against her father's life.

…

She was standing in one of the hallways at the medical center, looking into a room to check on the occupant inside. Her breathing was normal, the healing process for her having finished right after she got back. Etihw had used a powerful healing spell on Grora, making all the wounds Grora accrued in her fight against Hastur go away and get better immediately. She was the Goddess, and could naturally solve a serious problem like that right away without too much effort on her part as omnipotent power certainly was without too many restrictions. Granted, Etihw couldn't repair her armor since that job could only be performed by the finest armorers in Justim's heaven where she had sent it following the army's return. She didn't care about the damage so long as everyone had come back to her safely, though one individual in particular was still struggling to survive her pain.

Watching the two cat demons residing in the room with a couple knapsacks slung over her shoulder, Grora observed Arbus seated by Ater's side as the black haired feline preserved her firm vigil over her sister. They had tried to heal the poor girl back at the main camp, but the destruction wrought upon Ater's body and her soul as well as her heart was far too irreversible for them to fix. They immediately returned her frail form to the Gray Garden, shocking Etihw and everybody else who saw her in this decrepit condition as the Goddess rushed forward and attempted to heal Ater's wounds. Unfortunately, even that wasn't enough to successfully make Ater better; it may have had an effect on the white haired cat demon, possibly healing her slightly if not by a significant margin, though nothing was certain since they couldn't make out any changes. Her fate was unforeseeable as well even to those who scried into the future, utilizing that rare means of ascertaining whatever was going to happen. This was because of the intense torture Ater experienced in the Sun Heaven, the enchantment from the Lebabylonian Blade that Hastur applied to the torture apparatuses along with his own blade—even if the katana wasn't used on Ater—contributing to the terrible damages.

Looking at Ater's seemingly lifeless body as Etihw walked by her to enter the room, Grora could only feel deep remorse for the poor kitty. This whole thing happened because of her, even if everyone said it wasn't her fault. Grora knew better than them, she knew she was to blame for this no matter what they said. Everything could've been averted if she had simply confessed earlier by turning Hastur and the members of True Light in before she had killed their parents. Grora could've imagined what their lives would've been like if she hadn't done that, if those cat demon adults did not die then. They would've lived happy lives in the Gray Garden with their daughters, away from the malevolent grasp of Liliya, the Flower God of the Flower World—now no longer a God since he was charged for war crimes against the demons there. They would've been a happy family with so many friends. They would've had everything…if Grora hadn't killed the two of them and turned their daughters into orphans Kcalb and Etihw raised with help from Wodahs. Granted, Hastur may have still returned if he escaped back then, though the cat demon family would not be separated to suffer the loss. Their parents would not be dead…they would've been a very happy family here.

Etihw applied more of her healing magic to the sphere she created for Ater as a permanent source of consistent healing. Watching her do this, Grora closed her eye and recalled when her eye was taken because of a freak accident Ater didn't mean to cause. It was an accident, not on purpose.

 _She screamed in agony, falling against the wall and slumping down to the floor with a hand over her left eye, the pain from that spiked marble which shot into it causing the eye to erupt when it became gouged out. Grora had only just returned from the other town she moved to and finished unpacking her things, so she'd been expecting a quiet reception when she arrived back. She didn't ask for anything special of the sort, just a regular day of homecoming now that things had cooled down since True Light began the killing spree and was subsequently shut down. The angelic lady's confession ushered in a slew of controversy from people, both angelic and demonic, wanting Grora to pay for her crimes. Many angels and demons wanted her charged at first, but eventually figured whatever punishment she received was fair enough after hearing she was used like a tool. Although there were some who had understood her at first and continued to even to that day, others weren't so sure after what they heard about her—that she took part in the killings of innocent people._

 _Grora had only just begun to get back to work the first day after her arrival when she had noticed the armory door was ajar. Investigating why by opening it further, she received that spiked marble as her conclusion, the deadly projectile embedding itself into her left eye and rupturing it. She would no longer have that eye, and wouldn't even accept a new one or let anyone heal it. That day was the dawning of an intense hatred in her; while she'd realized the demons really wanted a peaceful lifestyle and started becoming friends with some, a particular fire of hatred for two damn demons in particular was set ablaze by this one incident. After others had come to help her, Grora managed to open her remaining eye to see the two little kitten demons crying in there. She watched the white haired one drop the slingshot, knowing that one was the culprit behind this incident. The angel vowed to take revenge on them that day, using any means necessary to ensure they suffered…_

Except she didn't want them to suffer anymore. Grora moved beyond that now, realizing a more serious crime had been committed. She killed their parents for True Light on Hastur's orders, and she could never bring them back even if she offered Ater and Arbus the proper closure and the proper justice they deserved. The angelic woman certainly gave them both by killing Hastur…but it wasn't enough. _"Is it even worth living in the Gray Garden anymore because of you?!"_ Grora's mind flashed back to that question Arbus raised towards her, the way it was worded making it feel like the angel wanted them to leave the Gray Garden. She couldn't stand them before, so that was a good option; Ater and Arbus wouldn't have been abused by her, and Grora wouldn't have to deal with them. That was before they all learned of their connection with Aleista's assistance with that deal the cat demons made and reformed with her. It was that revelation that ushered in the guilt. A second question Arbus posed to Grora appeared in her mind: _"Do you really hate us that bad that you can't even stand us at all, all because of your damn eye?!"_ Yes, she had hated them before as Grora didn't make the connection, and neither did they. Now they were aware of it, and things did change between them with Ater being afraid of her, Arbus hating her, and Grora feeling guilty due it. It was especially bad knowing Ater would have difficulty making a full recovery from her pain.

Grora had caused them plenty of pain and suffering through her constant abuse of them as revenge for her lost eye which was mainly geared towards Ater, the true culprit. She hurt them an awful lot, and knew she couldn't be forgiven for all of it and their parents' deaths. Having made a choice, Grora decided there was only one thing to do to make everything right for them. With both knapsacks in her grasp, each one packed with clothes and some various things, she shut her eye to avoid the pain of having to watch herself leave them…and turned to head towards the elevator. As she rode it down to the first floor, the angel cleared her mind and figured she'd depart without even saying goodbye to anyone. They'd miss her, especially her friends and Froze along with her foster daughter's friends, but Grora really couldn't stay. She was a painful reminder of the terrible abuse. Stepping out when it arrived at her destination, she sauntered to the front entrance and walked out.

"Grora!" someone called her name, running towards her as the angel crossed halfway into the courtyard, currently making a beeline for the warp slate. "Grora, please wait up! Don't go!"

The angel turned to face her. "Lady Etihw…" she murmured sorrowfully, feeling hurt over everything she caused. Shutting her eye, she took a deep breath and sighed. "Don't stop me."

"But why?!" the Goddess protested, trying to understand why Grora had to leave the Gray Garden. "You've more than made up for everything that happened in your past! You're forgiven!"

"No, I'm not…" Grora replied with a somber tone of voice. "Not by everybody…"

"Yes, you have. I know Ater and Arbus already have—"

"It's better that they forget about me. They'll be safer without me around."

Etihw still looked so upset over her subordinate's decision to just depart. "But—"

"I can't stay, not after everything I did to those girls," Grora murmured. "All that pain…"

"Yes," Etihw concurred with her, aware she couldn't counter that. "You did cause the two of them pain. You took away a lot from them; you killed their parents and abused them for decades. Yet you've also given back to them; you've turned over the closure and justice they both needed."

"They'll get more now that I'm leaving…" the angel went on sadly.

"They won't," the Goddess kept trying to dissuade her from leaving forever. "Believe me, Grora, they need you now just as they did when you underwent the campaign into the Sun Heaven. Your deeds there on their behalf for them have not gone unheeded by them. Arbus recognized that you have changed and wanted to help them, seeking to apologize for everything you've done."

"And I succeeded, Lady Etihw," Grora stated to finish that comment, "but not fully yet."

"So you really think leaving all of us behind is going to solve that?!" Etihw cried out, still seeking to keep Grora here instead of watching her leave. "You believe it'll make things better by making them right?!" Watching the angel nod, the Goddess did her best to try not to slap her. "It's not right, Grora, it isn't! If you really want to make things better for them, stay by their sides!"

"I can't, I've already caused too much trouble and made them suffer for a long time," Grora insisted on her decision to go. "I can't bear the thought of being a painful reminder of their pain."

Etihw felt like she was going to tear her hair out and scream, mentally cursing that stubborn attitude of Grora's. "So, that's it then?!" she asked, raising her voice as Grora turned to walk away. "You'll just abandon them after what you've done for them?! After redeeming yourself, Grora?!"

"That's the idea," Grora said and stepped closer to the warp slate when the Goddess warped right in front of her to try and stop her. "It's no use, Lady Etihw, I've already made my decision."

"Tell me, do you know if Ater and Arbus have forgiven you?" Etihw inquired.

"I know, they already have…" the angel uttered, looking down in shame.

Etihw eased up on her persuasion, the realization dawning on her now. "You can't forgive yourself, can you, Grora?" she asked, believing that was the case as Grora nodded to confirm that.

"I just can't…not after everything I've done to them…"

"You think this will make everything right for yourself? By leaving, you'll atone for all of the horrible mistakes you've committed? The murders of their parents by your hands, Grora?" The angel nodded again affirmatively to each of these questions the Goddess posed to her, trying to go around Etihw. This time Grora didn't want to say anything else, feeling there was nothing left that could be said. She had already made her point and thought the two of them would go around in the circle they appeared to enter. However, Etihw had one last technique up her sleeve, something she needed to tell Grora before the angel actually did leave their world forever. "Know this, Grora: it's difficult to find forgiveness from others. They'll still hold you accountable until you've done right by them enough times for forgiveness to even be considered; you killed Hastur, avenging the girls' parents while saving Ater. That is more than enough in their eyes; it balances out your past crimes."

"Not really, hence why I must leave," Grora insisted on wanting to depart forever. "There's a lot of pain, much of it I caused to them and much of it I caused to myself, Lady Etihw. Although their pain may have healed and is still healing now, mine never will. That's why I have to leave."

"What if I told you there was a way, a way to cure your pain as well as theirs?" Etihw asked her, putting an idea forth to the angel. "Would you take it, or if not, at least hear it out, Grora?"

Aware that Etihw wasn't going to budge anytime soon, Grora figured she'd bite to entertain whatever suggestion the Goddess had to offer her. "Whatever, just say what's on your mind, Lady Etihw; I can't guarantee it'll make me stay, but at least I'll let you speak your piece, alright?"

"Thank you, that's all I'm asking for; though I do hope it'll change your mind," Etihw said, stepping closer to her subordinate to give her the message she had to relay. "When I was checking up on Ater just now, there was some progress in her condition. Enough to definitively tell she will make it, Grora. It's a miracle she'll survive after all the torture she experienced, but not without a long time to recover; her legs are too wounded and she'll be in a wheelchair until they heal, along with the fact she'll need medical apparatuses to help her breath as she recovers. However, there is another miracle. Although she's still unconscious, Ater somehow consciously stated several names of individuals who were close to her, people she cherishes dearly in her heart. These are the people she called out to: Arbus, their parents, Kcalb, myself, Wodahs…" she listed each of them, getting ready to say the last name when Grora figured she'd heard enough from Etihw regarding this.

"She wants all of you, so go to her. Be with her," the angel advised her. "Unfortunately, it is another story regarding their parents; you'll need to take the basket piece to Aleista for that."

"I know, but I'm not done yet, Grora. There was another name Ater mentioned: yours."

Grora's eye widened slightly, surprised at this revelation about her. "M-me…?" she asked.

Etihw nodded. "Yes, but not just once; multiple times. Of all the people whose names she'd been calling out, yours was the only one she kept repeating over and over again in between all the others." Reaching her hands up, she took the knapsacks from Grora and held them close to her due to her concern that the angelic subordinate was going to leave after hearing even that. "Ater wants us, though she also wants you. I believe she understands you, just as she always has; I believe she knows the pain you're going through as well, and I know she already forgave you even if her twin sister might not have at the time. Both of them forgive you, but Ater forgave you first. Ater wants you more than anyone else it seems, so it would only be right if you go to her now, Grora." Raising an arm up to point at the castle, Etihw encouraged her to see Ater. "Go see Ater, Grora; go be with her to fulfill her request. Even now I can still feel her calling out for you. If you leave, you'll leave her wish unfulfilled. Ater wants you; Ater needs you. You've killed Hastur, avenged their dead parents, and saved her, Grora. Do it for Ater, just as you've done the other deeds for both of them."

Grora didn't know what to say. She just stood there for several moments pondering on the way things had become while taking the Goddess' encouragement and advice into account. While she had wanted to depart so she wouldn't be a reminder of the pain those girls suffered…she began to feel leaving wasn't the best option anymore. As Etihw said, Ater both wanted and needed her.

"Please, Grora," Etihw goaded her into seeing Ater, "please do it for Ater."

Tears formed in the angel's eye as she briefly struggled with the choice, eventually turning around to run right back into Blancblack Castle after listening to Etihw's revelation. Grora hurried back to the medical center as fast she could, sprinting to the stairwell to fly up it towards what had become her new destination. She would have left the Gray Garden to find another world she could live in peacefully, wallowing all alone in her guilt. Had Etihw not put forth that revelation, Grora's decision to leave would've been accomplished without a hitch. Yet her guilt of leaving Ater when the white haired cat demon wanted her was just too painful for Grora to abandon. Grora could not bear the thought of leaving Ater's wish for the angel to be by her side empty. That was why Grora made a new decision by turning back, heading for the room Ater was in to make that wish realized.

Arbus had been getting some water at the vending machine when she saw Grora rush over to the door and stop, breathing heavily before going in to spend time with Ater. Although she was now fine with that, the black haired feline still wanted to be with her sister. Walking back to where Ater was, Arbus was suddenly halted in her tracks when Etihw warped right in front of her. "Lady Etihw?" she inquired, following the Goddess over to the door where the two of them watched Ater resting in the medical bed with Grora seating herself at the bedside, taking Ater's hand into hers.

"Let's let the two of them have a few moments alone to themselves, Arbus," Etihw stated, putting an arm around the cat demon with a warm smile on her face, happy that the angelic woman made the right decision. "They should take the time to reconcile and form a bond." With that said, she began to lead Arbus away as Grora sniffed while gently holding Ater's hand, starting to cry as she tried to think of something to say. She was here now and knew she had to say something.

"H-hey, there, Ater…" she whispered sadly, but in a soothing voice so the poor girl would be aware of her presence. "It's me, Miss Grora. I'm here for you, Ater…I-I'll always be here for you…at your side from now on to help you…" She sniveled again, the words flowing right out of her mouth as she began to say something she needed to say. "I-I know things have been hard…the pain I-I p-put you and your sister through just t-to get back at you…I-I was s-so angry at you…for that. It was wrong of m-me, and I-I s-should've known better after everything else I-I've done…a lot of innocent people died because of me, Ater, including your parents…" Grora sniffed again as she continued to cry, holding Ater's hand as tenderly as she could. "I-I wish I-I could have stopped myself sooner s-so you and Arbus wouldn't have lost them, Ater…you'd have been a happy family in this world…b-but because of me, y-you can't have them anymore…" Her tears poured all over one side of her face, and it also felt as if her empty eye socket was crying too. That was why Grora removed the eyepatch, deciding she didn't need it to give Ater the apology she needed. "I-I'm just s-so s-sorry for everything, Ater…and I-I want you to also know…" Here she paused because there was another thing she had to say, something that made her shut her eye and empty socket as Grora smiled, finding the strength to say that final remark of hers for Ater. "I-I forgive you for my eye…"


	32. Bonus Chapter

The lights flicker on as one of the guests turn them on, stretching his legs for a bit as a few of them stand around conversing amongst each other to pass the time. They arrived to hear another interview and were still waiting for Cyfweliad to show up after the demonic interviewer went down to see her cousin. Apparently the air conditioner was being repaired and her cousin knew an angel at the local hardware store who agreed to lend them a pair of large fans the two of them could use to generate some heat to warm the establishment up. Opening the door as they heard her coming up the stairs with noise of other footsteps indicating she was being aided, a lady let them in so they could set the fan down as Cyfweliad plugged it into an outlet by her desk before switching it on.

"Thanks for the help," she remarked with a smile to those who offered their assistance. "It won't be long until our air conditioner is fixed. My cousin informed me she called the repairman's office not too long ago and set up an appointment to have it repaired sometime tomorrow morning. My sincerest apologies for the setback, though everything is under control." Letting it circulate air to cool the room for them so nobody was hot, she then removed the pamphlet pertaining to new characters in this story from her desk to let them look at it. "Here, the author and publisher just got this finished earlier. There were a couple additions made to it not too long ago to account for new information on a couple characters already mentioned before in two of the other stories you read."

They opened it and read the descriptions of each character within.

Othros: A bat demon who is a friend of Grora. He works in the garden with her, though he also serves as a communications technician. Othros has many contacts in foreign underworlds, the associations largely having been made during the war between Etihw and Kcalb. Although he has to bribe some of his old contacts for any information, he willingly does it for a greater good since he believes peace is more important than conflict, hence why he willingly turns it over to them.

Rorin: An angelic warrior from Etihw's army during the war. A friend of Grora's, Rorin's also a gardener like her and the others in their tight-knit social circle. He also knew Leonidas, one of the strongest warriors in the army and was also used for Project Dynol Peiriant in Seven Nights at Clarabella's. Despite being retired like his friends, except for Grora, he and the others still work with the guards to ensure the Gray Garden is safe from any and all threats to its peaceful security.

Mitchell: A monkey demon who was once part of an unnamed guild that accepted contracts in exchange for work. Unlike most of his brethren in the guild, he was one of the few who wouldn't commit heinous atrocities like the rest of them. However, he did participate in the battles, including a war-like raid against Siralos and the Sun Heaven. After leaving this guild, he moved to the Gray Garden and prefers the peaceful solace in this world while being friends with Grora and the others.

Hastur: The leader of True Light, a secret society of several angels who sought to preserve the natural law of angels fighting demons that was present in many of the other worlds. Before the organization was destroyed, he revealed that he was using the order for his own ends and planned to eliminate them as well alongside his other victims. A narcissistically cruel man, Hastur despised everyone as he believed they were inferior to him and sought to become the God of Existence.

Desmond: One of the angels who served in True Light; killed during its destruction. While the authorities were investigating the killing spree, he destroyed evidence to fabricate false leads.

Bern: A paladin and military leader of the Sun Heaven, Bern was in charge of leading that strike force of sun angels into the Gray Garden. Under orders to establish portals there for the main army, they were undetected until Hastur escaped through one leading to their discovery. Leading a failed assault in the underground city, Bern was killed by Soa with him and his squad all being cannibalized by her out of retaliation mainly because Soa is Soa. Only Lenny escaped the horror.

Lenny: The sole survivor of the failed strike force, Lenny was captured by the Gray Garden and later sided with this world to provide information when interviewed by Kcalb and Wodahs. It was a tough decision for him; although he regrets the choice, he is still glad to have made it for the sake of good and later helped the armies in the fight against Hastur's forces in the Sun Heaven.

Kurst: A priest from the Sun Heaven, Kurst was employed by Hastur to lead an assault into the Gray Garden during the second failed attempt to invade it. Like many of his allies, he became a captive of the Gray Garden before being released to face charges when put on trial by Justim. If he hadn't given a monologue as a sermon before the failed battle, they might've fared a bit better.

Leihsuk: A sun angel cleric who was also a henchman of Hastur, serving as his right hand man. He was slain by Emalf and other flame demons in battle against Ivlis' army while attempting to capture Igls Unth. Before the War of Three Suns, he was an inquisitor in the Sun Inquisition.

Ember: A flame demon necromancer for one of the factions in the Flame Underworld. The art of necromancy is not a primary craft there because pyromancy is the preferred type of elemental arcana in the Mancy system. For this reason, she is the sole necromancer there even though she is also an adept with pyromancy. When not found at the side of the warlord presiding over the faction she's in, Ember can always be found throughout the various tombs, catacombs, and crypts dotting the whole Flame Underworld where she studies the dead and undead while raising them as thralls.

Soa: The Fourth Liaison of M'nellkor. Still psychotically deranged, but hilarious too, Soa's behavior was toned down by him and Aleista. Now a chaotically neutral cannibal, Soa loves doing work as a liaison since she gets to be with Aleista, who she loves as a big sister and affectionately labels her as her adorable crow. Devoutly loyal to M'nellkor, she will do any chore to please him just as she would do anything for Aleista because the two girls are affectionately inseparable.

Aleista: The Second Liaison of M'nellkor, and a lich demon who has served him for what might be countless existences. She and M'nellkor apparently go way back and were from the very same civilization it seems. Not much is known about her other than the fact she is neutral just like him—and Soa as well to some extent. She doesn't show much emotion towards anyone, and even when she does it's usually through some small facial expressions. Aleista is very affectionate with Soa, however, as the two share a sisterly bond. She dotes on the doppelganger and is always very happy to spend time playing with her adorable cannibal whom she will always smile around.

Closing the pamphlet as they heard footsteps on the stairs, they watched Cyfweliad go over to the door and open it for the angelic lady she was interviewing. "Hi, you're Alela Grora, right?"

"Just Grora will do," the angelic lady confirmed her identity for the interviewer and guests. She eyed the latter with a curious glint in her lone eye, though said nothing to or about them since she felt they were merely an audience who came to observe the interview with her. It made sense in her mind, so she didn't question it as she smiled and shrugged it off. "I'm usually referred to by my surname, it's what I always go by," she added for further clarification in case it was needed.

"But of course, if that's how you prefer it," Cyfweliad accommodated the request, holding a hand out to introduce herself after she had motioned for her interviewee to take a seat while also claiming her own. "I don't believe we've properly introduced ourselves as of yet, though I'm sure you've heard of me from a couple associates in Gray Village. My name's Cyfweliad, and I'm—"

"A freelance interviewer," Grora politely beat her to the punch, shaking hands with her and smiled graciously to show she accepted the pleasure of meeting her. "Yeah, I heard of you, alright. Who wouldn't know of your position when you've written tons of articles for newspapers and the several magazines you also contribute to? I've read some of your works before; great quality with a lot of attention to detail in the full scoop, and none of that yellow journalism I've heard of that's present in some other worlds. Good thing it isn't a problem in the Gray Garden and a few others."

"As somebody employed in the field of journalism, I strive to ensure all of my works cover the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth," the demon commented with a smile, taking a pen from a container on the table to begin taking notes about the interview on a pad of paper. "It is something all journalists must learn to do because fabricating a truth is not always entirely true."

"Ain't that the truth?" the angel inquired rhetorically with a chuckle, liking the demon and her drive for ensuring the truth was told and revealed. "But enough beating around the bush. Let's get to the questions, shall we? I'm going to be heading out soon for another world, so I'd appreciate it if this could be quick. Ater and Arbus shall be going to visit their home world and I'm going too since Ater still needs help getting around and all, what with those injuries to her legs. She's doing alright and is making a fine recovery, but it'll still be quite a while before she's fully recovered."

"Certainly, at your request. I promise not to keep you for too long, Grora, so I'll make sure to keep the total number of questions at a minimum." Taking out a card, she made sure to hand the thing over to Grora as the angelic lady took a look at it before pocketing it. "That's my card, so we can make an appointment for another session if you'd like if everything isn't fully addressed now."

"Sure, I'll give it some thought. So, what's the first question for this agenda?"

Cyfweliad put the pen to paper. "How about we start with your past, Grora? What were the challenges you faced like while in True Light? Did you experience much hardship in an order that strove to realize the renewal of traditional beliefs in the Gray Garden, or did it feel natural to you?"

"I guess you could say it was natural from one perspective while another made it look hard from that angle," Grora explained briefly. "The ideals we fought for were steeped in tradition since that was the foundation for our world's past as the Colored Rainbow World. To us that was in fact one of the most important cornerstones of who we were, yet civilization of today would not agree with advocating for continuing traditions like that when peace has become more significant to our people as a whole, not split in two distinct sides that fought against one another. That was a natural law we wanted to be clear in society again as a more active mor like the way it used to be. Yet this was challenging because the two sides, angels and demons, came together for peace in this world. Their perspective had changed when they realized conflict was horrible and began to settle down, preferring a simple lifestyle of peace as opposed to all the bloodshed when versing each other. The ideal wasn't evil because it was good, but we didn't believe it as we thought they were deceptive."

"Sounds like that was a conflict in of itself, choosing which values to follow after they had changed," Cyfweliad commented, jotting down this information on her pad. "And the hardships?"

"Mainly the guilt I felt over time as I slew innocent people for the sake of that tradition, an outrageous ideal in today's world that nobody will believe in nowadays even though we do accept it as a part of our past. Although my feelings of guilt and remorse accumulated, I still stuck by the organization I was a member of out of love for Hastur. I only realized what we were doing wasn't right until after I learned the truth following a particular set of murders dealing a blow to my heart and sense of justice." Grora sighed, shutting her eye briefly as she frowned while wording the next statement carefully even if it was coming out blunt. "We killed innocent people. It was a sin against our world, a crime against society and civilization. That was not justice; we might have thought it was, but in the end true justice was revealed and some of us opened our eyes, so to speak. I suppose you could say that's a symbolic truth to this story, a moral to learn so the sins won't be repeated."

"Indeed," Cyfweliad agreed, holding up a cup of espresso on her desk to toast that remark.

"Damn straight," Grora toasted as well, using a cup of mocha she brought up with her.

"Hastur was quite a charismatic man despite his narcissistic cruelty towards everyone else," the demonic interviewer observed, putting forth her next inquiry. "Exactly how would you define the effect he had on you in life? Was it positive at first until he became a negative influence?"

Putting a bent finger to her chin, Grora put some thought into her answer. "I would say that about covers it in a nutshell. I loved the man and believed in him; everyone else in True Light did too, thinking he was the hero our world needed if it was to be set back on the path it originally was on to begin with. The struggle for our traditions was a pure value even if Hastur twisted it for those evil designs of his, but fighting for them has become a futile struggle. I recognize this, and so does everyone else in the Gray Garden because conflict gets us nowhere but the grave over ideals we've believed in back then. Hastur knew that and used it while trying to show himself off as being some perfect being worthy of becoming a unitary deity over existence. He did it with True Light and the Sun Heaven, manipulating thoughts and opinions into becoming intensely heated conflicts over an assortment of elements and values to produce a mixture of hatred for certain ideals with love for a set of other ideals. The man was a conniving sociopath, someone who made an impact on anybody to convert them towards what causes he blanketed over his true goals to establish his presence."

"In other words, you've seen his true colors and are quite familiar with them. When you've been abusing Ater and Arbus, had it not occurred to you that his influence was still felt over you?"

"Over and in, actually," the angel clarified for her, "but no, I wasn't aware of it at the time."

"Until Aleista performed that ritual to fulfill their deal?" Cyfweliad went on.

"Yeah, that was quite a shocker for all three of us. They didn't know I was the murderer of their parents even though Arbus heard about it from me before. I hadn't made the connection about that until that strange lich demon revealed it. I still do not really trust them that much to be honest because of Soa, though I'm surprised by how intelligent they are as well as how accurate they were in their awareness of the problem. I don't know what to make of them, though I will admit they've been a huge help to Ater and Arbus. Looking back on the deal, I think everyone was wrong to have kept them from fulfilling it because of the crucial impact it had on their lives. I mean, their safety's important and all, but we still should've tried when the opportunity presented itself. Then again, I must also admit the caution was a necessity to determine whether Aleista and Soa were neutral."

"And what are your thoughts on the two of them now: Aleista and Soa, I mean?"

"Still hate Soa because of the Doppelganger Murders and her behavior;" Grora responded, briefly giving her opinion on the enigmatic pair that served that bizarre Great Elder, "though I can say Aleista seems alright. I mean, I don't get how she and Soa are close, though she's an enigma." Raising an arm up to check her watch, the angel glanced at the time to see how much she had left. The appointed time they had to leave for the Flower World with Macarona as their escort because she knew Rosaliya personally was coming up soon, so she wanted to finish this interview. Luckily Cyfweliad understood her intentions and decided to frame one more question as Grora finished the rest of her current answer. "There's definitely more to Aleista than meets the eye. I don't know to be honest, but there's something about her that feels odd. Not in a malevolent sense, mind you, as I think whatever background story she's got is still unclear and has yet to be told; more or less, but then again I'm not sure how who she is and anything else regarding her will be fleshed out."

"I see," the demonic interviewer commented, jotting down some notes pertaining to Aleista and whatever mysteries surrounding her could've been. "Moving on to my last inquiry for the time being since you need to go, how would you describe your feelings after having learned the truth?"

"Simply put," Grora decided to be brief for now and elaborate at a later date if she needed to, "the guilt I felt in my past came back to bite me in the ass. It haunted me for a long time despite everything I did. Fortunately, I made the choice to reconcile my feelings and with the cat demons, knowing that I needed to do something in order to fully atone for my past mistakes and sins. I did succeed in that endeavor, and now I'm glad the past could be put behind me forever with Hastur's death." She smiled, thinking she'd recount the end of his life for Cyfweliad. "Man, it felt so good. When I slew the bastard, I completely erased him from existence for good. There's no way in hell he'll be coming back. Although I thought about destroying some of the accounts regarding Hastur, I figured they should be left published to inform others what he was like so they can learn to never be like him. My favorite so far is how I finally overcame personal conflicts to end him for good."

"Well, I'm glad you are feeling better with yourself now that it is all over," Cyfweliad said to compliment the angel on how she handled herself throughout the story. "You've come quite the distance in order to overcome your inner demons, and it's been a pleasure discussing it with you."

"Yep, same here," Grora remarked and stood to leave. "Been a pleasure speaking with you about it. Sorry for having to go now, though I do hope we can find another time to chat like this."

"Sure, anytime," the demonic interviewer replied and waved goodbye. "See you, Grora."

"Yep, see ya around," the angel returned the remark and waved back too before sauntering out the door and closing it behind her, her footsteps echoing down the stairs into the coffee shop.


	33. Secret Chapter

_During the War of Three Suns—also called the War of Misguided Beliefs—squads ordered by Kcalb, the Black Devil of the Gray Garden, as well as Fumus, the Smoking God of the Corporate Heaven, made a discovery within the citadel where the Sun Tower was located. In their exploration of this space's customs office, they found classified documents of unspecified ingredients from an unconfirmed source. These unknown ingredients, which were developed by a faculty of secretive scientists—whom are all possibly alchemists and chemists with biologists—to produce a toxic substance used by the former Sun God known as Siralos. Details surrounding the covert assembly are unclear and, nonexistent due to absolute secrecy in which all of the information was purposely censured. Therefore, nothing can ultimately be determined from the documents except for the fact the mixture was utilized as a chemical weapon against humans to convert them over to religious faiths presided over by Siralos. This in of itself will serve as one of the charges levied against the former Sun God, whose mental state has somehow deteriorated to the point where he is incapable of governing the Sun Heaven. Even if he were, these charges demonstrate he isn't worthy anymore._

 _Assurance from Kcalb of the Gray Garden was provided in this regard as he claimed this was due to a party some of Siralos' angels attacked. The unknown party was to be investigated as they were from the Gray Garden, but Kcalb claimed they were not originally from that world and could have probably chosen to reside there. He received permission from the party to inform us of their presence, though said he was in no position to relay information regarding these individuals. Considering Siralos' deception and how the Black Devil was being honest, ultimately the decision to investigate was nulled due to this and aid from the Gray Garden in this conflict. Hence why the policy of neutrality in this regard shall be upheld with all due respect towards this neutral world._

 _Returning to the topic at hand, the squads discovered something else in the bedchamber of Siralos: a leather bound journal serving as a diary of sorts. Full scrutiny of this journal identified it as belonging to the Sun God with numerous admissions pertaining to his governmental policies and also the spread of religion in the Land of the Sun. Reports relevant to the aforementioned issue of that unknown substance, its ingredients, and the faculty were purposely omitted by the Sun God. Two aspects involving Devils were made clear in this logbook, and thus they shall be described._

 _First, Siralos confirmed Ivlis' account with this journal as entries pertaining to the latter's fall from the Sun Heaven are heavily detailed. They state that the Flame Devil was made with both of his eyes open on purpose as opposed to the angels whose eyes were closed. Furthermore, Siralos purposely made him a demon and had Ivlis acquire knowledge by placing him in occupations that furthered the improvement and increase of his intelligence. By doing so, Siralos planned on putting the Flame Devil in a position where Ivlis would later come to him questioning the faith and be set to fall on purpose as the Sun God planned from the very beginning. This supports Ivlis' case which was set against Siralos and Igls Unth, Siralos' daughter and Ivlis' sister, prior to their being given over to the Deities' Circle, the heaven that is commonly known to be governed by Lord Justim, for the sake of securing benefits for demons under Ivlis' command and also as his revenge on them._

 _The second matter is more enigmatic because many details are unclear. Fortunately, there is clarity in the fact that Siralos provides the name of Satanick, the Gentleman Devil of the Devil's Kingdom over in the Pitch Black World. According to the Sun God, he apparently went on a "date" with Satanick after receiving a "love letter" from him. These two terms are in quotes because the journal has also placed them in quotes, thereby arising the suspicion that said terms are meant to cover up a significant, yet secretive agreement between the two leading to speculation as covered._

 _A "date" can refer to any meeting dictated by the term, maybe a business deal to be made or between associates who wish to meet—two could be for love or any level of association between the two, though more equate to simply getting together to meet up and perform activities that are enjoyed by the group. The "love letter" may refer to it as a date between lovers, though the quotes make it seem like a different kind of missive was delivered. A possible allusion to something that could potentially relate to the classified documents, this letter was searched for to no avail—later in the same entry regarding the Gentleman Devil, Siralos stated he destroyed it and instructions pertaining to the documents, though held them. It is unclear why exactly, but speculation points to him seeking to establish a hold on Satanick for an unknown reason. Whatever that reason is, only the Sun God—and maybe Satanick too—knows. However, we know this: the meeting took place in the Corporate Heaven at a five star restaurant. An investigator was sent over to acquire testimony from the staff and any other witnesses so we may ascertain a truth behind the meeting. Based on testimonial evidence, this is one of many interpretations regarding the meeting between the two:_

 _Drafted-Signed by Shiroame, White Witch, Chancellor-Steward of Deities' Circle._

…

It was around noon by the time he had arrived and taken his seat at a table over in the corner where nobody else was located. This condition was crucial because they were supposed to be very discreet in their conversation together. Although there were some individuals frequenting the place as regular customers and also as members of the establishment's faculty, they did not bother to see what he was doing there. Like everyone else who came to enjoy the fine eats, he was like them as this was a location he frequented too. Despite standing out, he blended in rather well despite being the Gentleman Devil. Satanick breathed in the fresh air, tasting the aroma of fresh baked bread the staff were preparing for their specialty breadsticks, shutting his eyes to savor the atmosphere. With a quick glance over to his trusted Chancellor and Marshall, Yagi, he threw an oblique smile so the goat demon would be reminded of what he was supposed to be doing at this meeting: observing as a shadow, ready to assassinate the Sun God if Siralos made an attempt to do something foolish.

Clad in his regular black suit and tie combo over the red shirt that went well with the shade of his fluffy collar and cufflinks that had two black buttons on each of them whereas the suit had three, Yagi definitely appeared like a trained businessman or assassin for a crime syndicate. Seated at a separate table in the shadows, he overlooked the table Satanick sat at and nodded slowly as a gesture expressing his awareness of the duty his master entrusted him to. Leaning back in the chair, the top of the backboard resting against a wall behind him, one leg was crossed over the other leg. The gas mask with that radioactive-nuclear symbol over the eyes made him look quite menacing, especially as he never took it off around others. Even the Gentleman Devil was not even sure what he looked like underneath, though he didn't care since Yagi was a most professional asset to him.

In a similar fashion to his subordinate's attire, Satanick was garbed in a sable dress suit and black dress pants. The third dress-related article of clothing was his white shirt with black reddish buttons and a Victorian like bow colored crimson that went well with the white gloves and oxfords that were black and had red soles on the bottom. Hanging up on the back of the chair he sat in was a cape decorated on the bottom by spikes and diamonds, both of which were painted red. It was an interesting mix of color pertaining to bronze and light black, matching the beige coat underneath.

Looking up as his quarry arrived, the Gentleman Devil looked towards his direction while raising an arm to beckon the other man over with a wave of his hand. Watching him approach, his gaze peripherally switched over to Yagi to let the goat demon know that he was to have his shotgun at the ready. His subordinate's weapon was carefully concealed under the table in a position which it could be removed from without garnering any attention from the angels. Again, Yagi nodded to confirm he knew what to do, prepared to pull it out and unload a shell or two into Siralos' face. A normal weapon wouldn't have done much good, but Satanick ensured a team of secretive scholars in his service studied each and every detail regarding the Lebabylonian Blade, the Tower of Lebab, and the battle named after that tower. Their efforts produced an enchantment equivalent to the very same enchantment on that weapon, thereby giving them the means to wound deities or outright kill them. This enchantment was applied to the shotgun and all the shells Yagi had on him, so he wasn't to be taken lightly if the Sun God made the decision to go against what Satanick had to offer him.

Returning his gaze to Siralos as he observed the Sun God coming over, unaware of Yagi's presence and the fact Satanick knew and had given the goat demon his orders, the Gentleman Devil was glad to see Siralos was alone. He had made that pretty clear in his "love letter," adding to him that the Sun God was not to inform any of his sun angels about the meeting. He figured the deity's interest in this meeting was like that of his confusion, for Siralos didn't know how Satanick found out where he'd been staying while meeting with Fumus. That earlier meeting with the other deity, the Smoking God, finished halfway with the remaining half being set for that afternoon. Satanick's idea was not to keep Siralos for too long, only long enough to chat and…discuss their business.

"Judging by the fact you're the only demonic individual residing in this fine establishment, I am guessing you must be Satanick, the Gentleman Devil of this world," the Sun God stated with a rhetorical air, claiming his seat across from said Devil when he was motioned to sit down. "I will level with you, I do not perform any dealings with individuals such as you because of your position. I received your epistle, now state your piece as to why someone like you wishes to dine with me."

Satanick couldn't help himself as he chuckled reassuringly, seeking to lull his target into a state of security—not a false state since he had no intention of combating the deity…unless Siralos intended to combat him. Shutting his eyes while waving the concern aside, he opened them again. When he spoke, it was with a silver tongue well experienced in political and diplomatic affairs for the sake of ensuring the Sun God was comforted by the lack of hostility. "Please, you have no need to concern yourself over the issue of dining with a Devil, somebody who is meant to be an enemy of the Heavenly Council via Fumus. I was merely in the vicinity and heard news that another deity was in town. My interest piqued, I inquired around the general populace and some subordinates of this heaven and my own before determining that a meeting was in order to get to know you better."

"Really, is that so?" the Sun God asked, not sure whether to buy this account or not.

"Truly, I do mean it," Satanick assured him once more and put forth an apology. "But if I may, I'd like to apologize on account of the fact that I heard you were a woman, not a man."

His guest scowled at that bit of information. Though he took offence to it, he couldn't really blame this Devil for hearing something from someone who had mistakenly believed he was a lady instead of a man. Yet he inwardly chided Satanick for believing that false detail. "A woman?"

"Indeed, one of my subordinates informed me you were a woman," the Gentleman Devil's repetition of that fact came through as he offered further elaboration. Secretly, however, Satanick's ruse was working because he actually did know Siralos was male. Yet he made sure to butter him up, using this pretense to determine whether Siralos could discern its validity or not. "His claim to have known somebody who knew you personally felt true in my opinion when I heard it, for it was supported by my knowledge of his work. He has not once ever lied to me, so I am sure his source's accuracy is to blame concerning this confusion of your gender." He straightened his tie, preparing another statement he wanted to make. "Though where are my manners?" Satanick then asked, this introduction serving as that statement. "You are correct, I am Satanick, the Gentleman Devil. You seem familiar with me, as I am with you through the grapevine. Come, let this be a proper meeting, a first time introduction between the two of us to better ensure we know one another much better."

Although he was still uncertain what Satanick's intentions were, Siralos nevertheless made a choice to take the bait so he could ascertain whatever those motives could've been. "I suppose it may be alright," he verbalized his consent to the arrangement for that purpose, opening a menu.

"Of course, I'm sure we can enjoy a pleasant chat together," the Gentleman Devil remarked to concur with him while also opening a menu as a waiter came over to them. "Oysters Bienville," he stated to begin with an appetizer followed by the main course and a drink. "Shrimp Creole and a glass of Chablis, if you would be so kind as to write it down as well." Closing his menu he looked over at the Sun God to watch his guest decide on a meal for himself as Siralos made his orders.

"Fougasse with some olives and goat cheese as my appetizer. For my main course, I would like the Étouffée. I'd also like to request a glass of red wine to drink." Closing his menu and giving it to the waiter as Satanick also handed his over, Siralos' eyes trailed over to a particular area where he caught sight of a waitress going up to a table near theirs. Catching sight of a goat demon seated there, the Sun God observed him with his peripheral vision, hoping the Devil didn't catch that. Yet he was mistaken because Satanick did see his gaze turn towards Yagi's presence, and Siralos began to feel he'd been led into some sort of trap. However, Satanick didn't make it seem like that at first because he merely brushed that concern aside, fully aware that his guest's awareness was growing.

"Ah, that would be another subordinate of mine, different from the other I mentioned." The truth was that there was no other subordinate, the lie working rather well. "By coincidence he has shown up at this establishment too for a meal. He understands I'm meeting with you, and he won't bother us anytime soon." Unless he was bothered by some foolish action or remark courtesy of the Sun God. "I had not known he'd be here until I saw him as you came in, though I figured it would be impolite to go over and chat with him when my business is with you. It's Siralos, am I right?"

"Correct," the Sun God confirmed his identity for the other. "Now, may I inquire as to what sort of business you wish to discuss, Satanick? Surely there's an ulterior motive besides curiosity." He was beginning to understand there was, for he didn't believe the goat demon's presence was in fact coincidence like the Devil had claimed. He was onto something, but didn't know what yet.

"An ulterior motive?" Satanick asked, sounding confused and rather surprised to hear him say such a thing. Truthfully he was glad the Sun God was starting to understand there was actually a purpose behind this meeting, driving it forward towards a…business association of sorts. "Surely you jest. I have nothing in mind other than a casual chitchat about each other's societies. Is that so wrong? Do you really suspect me of preparing something so elaborate as to garner your trust?" He reached down towards his coat pocket and pulled out a napkin, but a pen fell out too. "Ah, pardon me if you would; I seem to have dropped a writing utensil by accident." Watching him bend over, thinking he was picking it up, Siralos turned his attention back to the goat demon to confirm there was something fishy going on. He saw that the demon was staring at him, just as he was to him. A sudden tap on his lap drew his attention away from that demon towards a manila folder on his lap.

"What is your game, Satanick?" he asked, moving his hand towards it when stopped by the Gentleman Devil who held up his own hand. That was an indication that Siralos shouldn't open it now if the Sun God was correct, but he played along to try ascertaining why he received this folder. He wondered what was within it, though knew this strange Devil wouldn't reveal its contents. The look in Satanick's eyes expressed he knew something Siralos didn't—or thought he didn't because it almost seemed as if Satanick was…aware of something, perhaps another arrangement he made. The Gentleman Devil flashed a peripheral glance at Yagi, purposely letting Siralos catch it because he wanted to draw the deity's attention to the shotgun his subordinate hid under the table. Siralos' eyes didn't widen, for he wasn't shocked that his host's underling possessed the weapon. However, he was curious as to why the enchantment he sensed on it was exactly like the Lebabylonian Blade.

"What game?" the Gentleman Devil inquired, still playing ignorant on purpose so that this meeting wouldn't arouse suspicion from anyone—not that the angels were looking towards them. "You seem to worry too much over suspicions making you paranoid. I can reassure you that I only wish to talk about our respective civilizations. Surely you can lay your suspicions to rest, Siralos?"

Uncertain as to whether he could do that or not, Siralos figured he'd entertain him this time until they had to go their separate ways. Once they split up and he returned to his room in the hotel, he'd hide the folder from his subordinates and analyze the contents in greater detail later that night.

…

 _Following the reading of various scenarios pertaining to the classified documents found in the Sun Heaven, the Heavenly Council convened to discuss which is possible and more likely to be plausible than others. Based upon feedback each of the deities who've been in attendance for this assembly provided, we reached a general consensus towards what may be a conclusive hypothesis. To reiterate the facts of this case as they were, and still are, known to us, there are two common truths within the confines of this evidence: one, Siralos and Satanick did indeed meet; two, Siralos also most likely received the classified documents from Satanick. However this case was handled by the two main participants is still unclear; however, a testimony from Fumus himself about the Gentleman Devil sheds light on Satanick's behavior. Due to his somewhat okay relationship with this Devil and how he is one of the Heavenly Council's most trusted members, we see no reason to disbelieve his account of his world's Devil as we proceed forward into this investigation. We've got to understand the nature of this bizarre mystery, hence why analyzing it is crucially important._

 _Moving on to discussing the two main facts, further evidence and analysis will be examined by adding additional facts acquired in the investigation to determine for what purpose the meeting between Satanick and Siralos was convened. According to eyewitness testimony, the two met over lunch around noon in a restaurant of five star quality as supported by the testimonies of customers and staff who were on duty at the time. This fact has also been mentioned in the earlier report that Shiroame, the White Witch who serves as the Deities' Circle Chancellor and Steward, wrote about recent events including the War of Three Suns/War of Misguided Beliefs. Furthermore, additional testimonies of a waiter and waitress were garnered during the investigation and theirs was in fact quite compelling with other testimonies, all of which mentioned the presence of a powerful, though lesser demon in Satanick's service. They each claimed this specific demon was a goat demon who wore a gas mask; his identity was confirmed by Fumus to be Yagi, Chancellor and Marshall of the Devil's Kingdom governed by Satanick on behalf of Her Majesty, Queen GriRea, who also resides there. Based on the eyewitness testimonies, Yagi likely served as an observer of the meeting Siralos and Satanick had that day. Even so, we cannot rule out the possibility that he had a more important role to play; perhaps he was to act as an assassin if the Sun God had a disagreement of some sort with the Gentleman Devil. Whatever the case, this assembly between the two cannot be ignored._

 _As for the second fact, that of the classified documents, we must again reiterate what these files were to aid in the construction of possible theories as to what objectives they described. First, we know for a fact the unknown ingredients produced a volatile mixture that, when mixed together, produced a chemical weapon. Further combining this substance with the blood, deaths, souls, and pain of demons who suffered, its potency would become a danger to whoever uses it regardless of what station an affected individual belongs to. This action was performed in the Sun Inquisition of the Sun Heaven, the most brutal of bastilles where the aforementioned substance was then distilled and stored until used. Siralos utilized this for nefarious objectives, forcefully converting the human populations in the Land of the Sun that did not see the religion he presided over as the deity as a faith worth following. Analysis of its spread shows success on his part since he performed three categorical experiments in order to achieve an understanding of it while using it. His first victims were those who followed him; the second were large populations that didn't follow him; and the third consisted of both the first and second for the sake of keeping them all in line. In all respective cases, the purposes were as follows: testing a control group to comprehend effects after requesting the subjects opened their eyes temporarily for the experiment; establishing it as a chemical weapon once tests were proven successful; and to further test and use it as such repeatedly many times._

 _With regards to the staff assigned to this production, facts still remained unclear since the documents were all censured as noted by Shiroame. Not a single detail was left in the clear, so we conducted a second investigation following the first and subsequent council assembly to determine who made this and why. Although we know Siralos was placed in charge of this assembly, the fact remains that he did not appear to be in complete control over it as he was likely an overseer. This portrays to us that he was most likely working for someone else; possibly Satanick or an associate of the Gentleman Devil—whoever else it could've been is still unknown to us. What is known is the following event as detailed following this sentence. In the citadel's immigration center, our squads uncovered records of angelic immigrants who had gone to the Sun Heaven. These documents show who lived in which part of this heaven and what they were assigned to do in addition to what they planned on doing. Mixed in with these immigrants, located on but a single page, was a significantly large group of unnamed persons who were allowed passage into the Sun Heaven by Siralos himself on a date that subsequently followed his business trip to the Corporate Heaven to see Fumus. Due to the secretive nature of these individuals' identities and how they too were also censured, we've come to the conclusion that these people were in fact secretive agents of Satanick whom had been given access into the Sun Heaven on purpose. An entry of the Sun God's journal confirms this has happened and is utmost true. Therefore, we can only assume these individuals were all demons as they could not be angels of any sort, thereby they would've been converted to become angels. The "angels" were assigned to work in the Sun Inquisition once the building's entire faculty, who were fulltime employees at the location, were all immediately reassigned to various different positions._

 _We say they were "angels" because of the probability they were originally demons. Taking this into account, we must determine where they originated from, thus leading to two possibilities as to the answer that may solve this matter. First, the demons came from the Devil's Kingdom for the purpose of tying that hell to the Sun Heaven. This makes sense because the meeting was in fact between Siralos and Satanick; no other Devils or demons besides Yagi were present for it. Though this is the most basic and fundamental theory, we mustn't ignore the probability that these demons came from a different underworld. According to common knowledge the Heavenly Council already knows, Satanick was but one of many Devils, several of whom were his associates. While many of them are still unknown, there is one other Devil who could fit the bill: Warwick, the Business Devil of the Black Market. This idea could also be probable because past intelligence reports show that Satanick was more than a simple associate of Warwick, the only named Devil associated with him. His involvement is uncertain, hence the need for further investigation into these matters at once._

 _But what if they weren't demons posing as angels? Is it possible they were angels? This is another theory that must be addressed, though doesn't have much evidence or information we can use to support it. Investigations proved there is indeed a spy on the Heavenly Council; if Siralos is the spy, the angels would be from his own heaven. This isn't the case since all the angels were immigrants; therefore, these angelic individuals came from another heaven the spy resides in._

 _Drafted-Signed by Justim, God of All Gods of Deities Circle._


End file.
